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The Apparitions and Miracles at Knock; also, the Official Depositions of the Eye-witnesses

M.H. Gill & Son (1880), via Internet Archive · 1880 · 90 pages · text from the file's own layer

This book was prepared and edited by John MacPhilpin of Tuam and published in Dublin by M. H. Gill & Son in 1880. It reprints Tuam News reports on the apparition of the Blessed Virgin, St. Joseph and St. John the Evangelist, which about twenty people saw on the south gable of Knock chapel, County Mayo, on 21 August 1879. It also gives the witnesses' official depositions, which a commission of priests appointed by the Archbishop of Tuam judged trustworthy. It lists cures recorded in Archdeacon Cavanagh's diary.

  • p. 13 …What the Eye-Witnesses say—Testimonies of Patrick Hill, Mary M'Loughlin, Mary Beirne, Patrick Walsh…
  • p. 19 …In Gaelic, the name " Knock" signifies a hill. The village is surrounded by elevated knolls, which…
  • p. 20 …Looking, for instance, to the south-west, he beholds Cnoc-ban, or fair hill ; and to…
  • p. 21 …A second Lourdes has arisen at Knock, a small village surrounded by little hills, from which…
  • p. 33 …but ancient.looking, buildings erected on the hill. He naturally asks : What is that ? The site…
  • p. 40 …balls of the figures, which, as Patrick Hill testifies, appeared to him to be those of…
  • p. 43 …rightly due to the evidence of Patrick Hill, of Claremorris, a young, frank, intelligent boy, of…
  • p. 44 …Master Hill declares that they appeared to him to move, and, as it were, on wing…
  • p. 45 …I am Patrick Hill ; I live in Claremorris ; my aunt lives at Knock; I remember the…
  • p. 48 …myself; I went away then. (Signed) Patrick Hill. Witness present—U. J. Canon Bourke. October 8th…
  • p. 50 …Note.—Mary M'Loughlin had gone away before Patrick Hill came. Their testimony relates to two…
  • p. 60 …The fifteenth witness is John Durkan, one of the three who accompanied young Hill. His testimony…
  • p. 64 …looked around the church and school, and hill and vale, mound and mearing, and saw no…
  • p. 69 …This was a boy of about fourteen years of age, named Patrick Hill—a bright, intelligent…
  • p. 70 56 this story in the manner already described, Hill departed, and presentlya lad was brought in…
20
parish of Knock, looking after the wants, spiritual and tem
poral, of the people, and relieving them in their hours of trial,
and attending to all sick-calls. In this way the good pastor's
time is fully occupied, especially in this year of general want,
when the time and patience and power of endurance of every
Irish priest in the West of Ireland is fully put to the tightest
test. Archdeacon Cavanagh receives some ninety letters each
day. It is evident that he cannot attend to the demands of
all his present correspondents, and if some of them are dis
appointed it is not owing to indifference or negligence on
the part of the pious pastor. The residence of the venerable
archdeacon is quite near the chapel, say about two minutes'
walk. It is a plain, thatched cottage, consisting of three
rooms and a kitchen. It is in shape and size like the dwell
ing of some of his humbler parishioners, and is distinguished
from the common class of cottages by a flower garden in
front of the leading entrance. He receives all those who
come to him with great courtesy and kindness, having a
friendly word for everyone. Strangers of note, and clerical
visitors, are usually treated by him with much attention and
marked respect.
Pious Peasants.
Qualis pater, talis filius—like father, like son, is an old
adage, and may be turned a little into the following :
qualis pastor, talis grex—like pastor, like flock The pastor o
Knock and Aughamor is zealous, devoted to his sacred calling,
an humble client of Mary, the Mother of God ; and so the
people, at least many of them, are simple in their habits of
life, and imbued with a deep-seated love of their holy religion.
Like the priest who teaches them, they have great faith in
our blessed Lord, and the fullest hope in his saving merits ;
they are imbued with a deep, devotional attachment to the

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Document, cited by the archive. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. 90 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.