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KNOCK |
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Ever since an apparition of the Virgin Mary, accompanied by St
Joseph and St John, was seen on the gable of the parish church of KNOCK
( Cnoc Mhuire "Mary's Hill") in 1879, it has been a place of pilgrimage.
As a passer-by in Ireland, it's surprisingly easy to forget the all-pervasive
influence of the Catholic Church, but at Knock you're brought slap up
against it. Whatever you may believe about the possible authenticity of
the apparitions, Knock rates for Catholics, along with Lourdes in France
and Fatima in Portugal, as one of the leading modern miraculous
confirmations of their faith. A massive and ugly church with a capacity
of twenty thousand was opened nearby in 1976, and the pope visited the
shrine in 1979.
When Monsignor Horan, a local priest, first hatched the plan for the new
airport it seemed a crazy and profligate idea, and there were years of
bitter controversy over this apparent waste of public funds. In fact it
has proved remarkably successful, and as well as bringing in pilgrims to
see the shrine, the airport has had the effect of opening up the
northwest of Ireland for travellers - to the extent that Mayo is in
reach of London for weekend breaks, and house prices in the county are
booming as wealthy inhabitants of southeast England buy their second
homes. The Lourdes to Knock run is also used by fishers from the
southwest of France to reach west Ireland's lake fisheries.
The airport (situated three miles south from Charlestown at the junction
of the N17 and N5) is open from 9am to 6pm daily, serving many UK
airports including Luton, Stansted and Coventry. An Aer Lingus shuttle
service to Dublin connects with major international flights. There's a
tourist office in the airport, open to greet arriving flights (winter
closed Tues & Thurs; tel 094/67247), and another in Knock itself
(May-Sept daily 10am-6pm; tel 094/88193); ask them for details of
transport - most of the time you seem to have to rely on taxis to
Charlestown (a major crossroads where you can pick up buses and there
are a number of B&Bs) or Knock.
As a place, Knock is nothing much to look at but if you are interested
in religion, or the Marian phenomenon in Irish life, it can prove
fascinating. The best place to start is the Museum of Folk Life (May-Oct
daily 10am-7pm; Nov-April daily 10am-6pm; £2.50/¬3.17), which contains
artefacts relating to the apparition and the miracles associated with
it. The scene of the apparitions has been glassed in to form a chapel ,
and pilgrims can be seen there praying at all hours. As you might
expect, there is no shortage of kitsch plastic religious souvenirs on
sale. There are a couple of basic hotels , the Belmont , take the turn
at Burkes pub at the Claremorris end of the village (tel 094/88122;
£70-90/¬88.88-114.28), or the drab Knock International Hotel on Main St
(tel 094/88466; £70-90/¬88.88-114.28), and numerous B&Bs : try Mrs
McGrath's Bridge House , Airport Rd (tel 094/88205;
£33-40/¬41.90-50.79), which does excellent family deals, Mrs Carney's
Burren , Kiltimagh Rd (tel 094/88362; £33-40/¬41.90-50.79), or Mervue ,
overlooking the shrine (tel 094/88127; £33-40/¬41.90-50.79).
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