I happened upon this page showing pictures of alleged Marian Apparitions in Ireland. http://www.thejournal.ie/apparitions-ireland-photos-2158963-Jun2015/ I had heard of ones in Cork, but the others including Donegal and Sligo were totally new to me. Also Glencree in Wicklow. Even though it's the only place I've been to in these unknown Apparitions settings I had no idea! What do others know/think? Do any seem likely to be real and perhaps one day approved. Or are they all dubious? Also does anyone know off there has ever been a reported apparition of the Sacred Heart in Ireland (There were numerous ones in France, besides the most important ones to St. Margaret Mary.)
I don't think there was one at Glencree? That's by a photo journalist who is recording what he regards as a kind of last insight into a dying religion, if you read up on it. He is very fortunate in that his photo exhibition was featured on RTE, The Irish Times, that journal and numerous other newspapers. They would be inclined to favour that angle in my experience! Here is a different way of looking at it: http://motheofgod.com/threads/marian-apparitions-in-ireland.7294/ .
Yes I have heard of all these sites and visited some and was present at some of the apparitions. Tarrytown in Donegal was sometime in the 50s I think and was related to the troubles that were coming to the north of Ireland. A lot happened during the 80s and many believe Our Lady came but the anti Catholic media rubbished everything. I believe Our Lady called us to prayer at that time to prepare us and the church in Ireland. The church on the whole didn't want to know. If Knock happened today it would be brushed under the carpet.
Yes unfortunately that's what happened all right. If the Church embraced it, and they still could, it would I think give them a shot in the arm. For example over about the last century and a half probably the most spiritual Catholic spot in Ireland has been Mount Melleray in Waterford. The monastery there is probably the most famous in Ireland but in the last few decades it has fallen back a lot with few enough monks there now and many of them quite old. But curiously about a mile away Our Lady is reported to have come in 1985 and since then the place she came to, Mount Melleray Grotto, is still being visited by, it's reported, thousands of people, while in contrast 10s of people seem to be a good crowd visiting the monastery these days. The monks never took any view with respect to the apparitions, they just ignored it and still do in a way, which is a bit bizarre and maybe a bit sad and a lost opportunity? If they embraced it maybe the monastery would have grown and maybe that was what Our Lady intended?
I am very gratified to know of all this - and the book Scolaire Bocht! I had no idea! I_very_ much want to read this. Unfortunately, my budget for buying books is tight indeed. There are always several books competing at once which I feel I need for the work I am trying to do in Ireland. Yours is now definitely one of them. I am not sure when I will be able to get it, but I read the opening online and am very grateful you have undertaken this work. Really, in better days I would have just hit the order button. Now I must wait a bit. But please know I am grateful and very interested. Maryrose, what you write about being a witness to these apparitions is very striking. I do not know if you would feel comfortable saying more, but I would be grateful if, indeed, you felt you could. Finally, I have been feeling many things of late for the Soul of Ireland. In my own way, I want to join those working to guard the Soul of Ireland. In connection with this, I have been wanting to be more involved at this forum. However, I have recently had potentially great demands placed on me in regards a family member I will call Em. Em suffers greatly mentally. If anyone here might say a prayer for Em, I would be very grateful. For this reason, I may not (?) be able to get re-involved in this forum as I had hoped. I may also be slow with correspondence. I feel I must prioritise my writings for my blog, including finishing several, long unfinished projects. But I am grateful for all that people are doing here, including for the Soul of Ireland.
Prayers for Em. So much suffering in the world. 'Mourning and weeping in this valley of tears'. So true
Thank you, all of you, for your prayers. They mean a great deal to me. Quis ut Deus: it is odd you mention Knock. I only saw these replies last night, after returning from a weekend at Knock! Alas, I was unable to take Em, but I received real graces there in connection with Em nonetheless. Such an astonishing place, particularly that Apparitions chapel, where I find my prayer always deepens - often greatly. (I find it similar to the chapel at Paray le Monial and the Marian sites in France, which by the grace of God, I was enabled to visit many times, whilst living in France.) Scolaire and/or others: Here is a question that interests me - do any of these other Apparition sites in Ireland seem to carry graces with them like Knock? (I guess there are not chapels there where one can pray as in Knock, Paray, the Rue du Bac, etc?). (Your book, btw, is presently competing with my need to get a bio of Frank Duff. Duff may win this time, but I hope to get to yours before too long.) Due to the demands I mention above, I may not say more for awhile here. As I said, I must use my limited time for finishing long-delayed pieces for my blog, etc. But I had to acknowledge your prayers. Thank you deeply. Perhaps they helped with the graces this weekend ...
Roger Mount Mellary is very special. You can stay at the monastery there and take part in the prayers and also visit the shrine which is outside the gates. Inchigeela is also very special. In these places though there is nothing organised so its a private place to pray. I love the apparition chapel in Knock. So much to contemplate in the vision there. I have many good memories of Our lady's visitations during the 80's and 90's. I will pm you some time if you wish to know more from me. Mary
Yes I suppose there aren't usually chapels at them but there are frequently shelters from the rain and statues/shrines etc. I guess you will have ask some of the (many!) mystics on here about the graces felt there but yes I think so. Some are definitely in very beautiful settings though, no disrespect but I would have to say many are on nicer spots than Knock which is a bit developed now. For what it's worth one of my favorite such spots is called Seville Lodge which is on the Callan road on the outskirts of Kilkenny. An amazing natural amphitheatre surrounded by huge trees. Frank Duff was undoubtedly a great person and any book on him I'm sure would be very good.
I too will buy your book. I reviewed it there and its very nice to remember these special messages and visitations of Our lady all over Ireland during the 20 years prior to the millennium. Its a shame that the church seems to have ignored them and I suppose they were very nervous of them. Some of the visionaries imploded with the pressure, Im thinking Christine Gallagher, so that does not help but it doesent take from the message of Our lady of penance , prayer and repentance. Mary
I think enevery apparition site has a special character to them, just as every person is different. They also I think change character according to the needs of every person visiting. I think this is even true of every Church we visit. It is no accident that we name every Church for a different saint and thus reflect the differeing spiritual graces of each place. Also of course each place reflects the spriituality in place there, for example if the Church is Carmelite, Franciscan , Jesuit and so on...a for instance being that a Cistercian Church is very different than a Franciscan one as you can see from the pictures below: Franciscan Carthusian Church.
So for some apparition sites. I would say firstly at Knock I sense very strongly the prescense of the Holy Spirit. The appariton tableau there tells a story and one only understood by the presnece of the Holy Spirit. I think the power of Knock centres in the wonderful old Church there and I think the sotries of the sanctity of the Parish priest at the time of the visitation are true. That Our Lady came to visit this village because he was praying specifically for his village and for the people of Ireland.
For me on the other hand the Spirit of Mont Mellary rests on two things, fireworks and a real shake up call on the one hand. This being like a Mother who urgently tires to warn her children of danger. The second facet as illustrated by all those little birds, the Robin redbreast are of peace, of pray and the fruits of prayer
While visiting Ireland in 2013, my husband and I made a pilgrimage to Knock. We got lost on our way up from Waterford and found ourselves at the border of Tipperary, at a breathtaking place called 'The Vee' in the Knockmealdown Mountains.. we looked up at the hill there and saw a little shrine. When we went up to it, it was a shrine to Our Lady of Knock! We were never lost We made it to Knock the next day and it was a wonderful, spiritual experience.
