The Virgin and the Lion

By Kevin McManus

With the exception of Lourdes, Knock is possibly the most notable shrine arising from a vision in Europe during the nineteenth century. An adequate understanding of the visions at Knock cannot be arrived at without some consideration of the historical and economic backdrop to the events of 21 August 1879. 

The Apparition of the Virgin Mary in Knock occurred at the same time in Ireland as the beginning of the Land War which is considered as important in Irish history as the revolution of 1879 is in French history because it led to the eventual overthrow of the Anglo-Irish Aristocracy. 

Both the Apparition and the Land War began in County Mayo which was under the control of Archbishop John MacHale, referred to as the Patriarch of the West or as Daniel O'Connell named him, the lion of the fold of Judah because of his strong nationalist support. However by 1879, MacHale had distanced himself from the Fenian movement because of their brand of physical force nationalism

1879 was clearly a turning point in Irish history, it was the year of the last great potato famine and the year that would also mark the return of widespread support for the cause of Irish nationalism from the Irish Catholic church. Is there a link between events surrounding the Knock incident and this reunion?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Palladio Press
• Release date: Aug 9, 2019
• ISBN: 9781393133926

Kevin McManus

Kevin McManus is from Carrigallen, County Leitrim, Ireland. He has published a number of novels, poetry collections, a short story anthology, a play script and novellas which are all available to purchase on paperback and ebook on Amazon.    In 2016 he won the Leonard award for his writing. His poems have been published in several international journals, including the London Grip, the Californian Catamaran, the Honest Ulsterman, the Fortnightly Review, the Galway Review, the Cormorant, Dreich, and An Aitiuil.   In 2022 the poem "Lost Souls" was adapted into a short film and won the Blissfest film festival in Chicago. The film was also a finalist in the Cork poetry film festival and the Drumshanbo written word festival. It was also selected for the Los Angeles poetry film festival. 

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Preface

V iewed against the wider historical and intellectual context the events in 1879 begin to seem less provincial and less the product of Irish exceptionalism than they are sometimes assumed to be. [1] With the exception of Lourdes, Knock is possibly the most notable shrine arising from a vision in Europe during the nineteenth century. An adequate understanding of the visions at Knock, County Mayo, cannot be arrived at without some consideration of the historical and economic backdrop to the events of 21 August 1879.  Mayo was one of the most impoverished and densely populated areas of western Ireland. The year 1879 was clearly a turning point in Irish history, it was the year of the last great potato famine and the beginning of the land war that had its origins in Irishtown, County Mayo. That year would also mark the return of widespread support from the Irish Catholic church for the cause of Irish nationalism. [2] Is there a link between events surrounding the Knock incident and this reunion?

In my opinion the Knock apparition had a lot to do with the well-documented rivalry between Archbishop Paul Cullen of Dublin and Archbishop John MacHale of Tuam (the lion of the fold of Judah). It was MacHale who appointed the ecclesiastical commission in 1879 and decided that its findings were 'trustworthy and satisfactory'. For some peculiar reason the commission was not a sworn enquiry by the witnesses and evidence was not taken under oath. The report was never passed on to Rome for official ratification and the reports of the investigation have since disappeared. MacHale's dealings with the popular movements of the period and Rome's reaction to his views had, I believe, a strong bearing on perceptions of the Knock apparition.

The Patriarch of the West, or the Lion of the fold of Judah, as the admirers of Archbishop MacHale variously liked to refer to him, presented an extraordinary problem for Rome. Why this was so had mainly to do with the fact that for nearly sixty years MacHale had been the most persistent and bitter critic of British Rule in Ireland... he had built up in the Irish mind, at home and abroad, the image of a patriot bishop. To depose him in his old age, therefore, would simply antagonise the whole of Irish nationalist opinion at a stroke. [3]

Some notable works have already appeared on the Knock apparition. Chief among these are the works by J.S. Donnelly Jr., Paul Bew and John White. In order to clearly define my hypothesis in relation to these works, I will briefly outline and analyse the contributions of the said authors to the Knock debate.

Professor Donnelly's essay, The Marian shrine of Knock: the first decade is clearly the finest examination on the Knock phenomena published so far. It is an invaluable synthesis and analysis of all credible information written on the topic and also provides illuminating new viewpoints. His major argument is that the Ultramontane movement centred its devotions on the Virgin Mary which paved the way for the vision at Knock.[4] Donnelly also looks at the important role played by the press in attracting national and international attention to the Mayo village. My only real criticism about the essay is that it devotes too much space to information already well examined by the likes of Catherinne Rynne.[5] One point Donnelly makes which I disagree with is the notion that Archbishops  MacHale and MacEvilly were neutral towards the apparition.[6] MacEvilly was not neutral, this is evident in his letters to James Kirby, which illustrate the fact that he was highly embarrassed and sceptical about the apparition. MacEvilly even went as far as employing Dr Lennon of St. Patrick's college, Maynooth, to carry out scientific experiments in the hope of proving the entire thing was a hoax,[7] and as my thesis points out, MacHale, far from being neutral, was the chief instigator of the cult of Knock.

In 1996, John White's essay, The Cusack papers, new evidence on the Knock apparition, promised startling new information that would shed new light on the meaning of the apparition. While carrying out research on the papers of the nun of Kenmare in Washington D.C., he came across what he believed were the original unedited depositions of several of the key witnesses.[8] However, as Eugene Hynes recently pointed out, these depositions have already been published verbatim in John MacPhilpin's book and in The Nation, of 21 February 1880. According to Hynes, what White had discovered was 'Fool's gold'.[9]

Nonetheless, White in his essay does produce an original interpretation of the events surrounding the vision. Instead of the vision being a reaction against the modernising effect of the Land League as it is traditionally interpreted, White argued that the apparition itself was a modernising force. The growth of the Land League was mirrored by the expansion of the shrine and both utilised similar techniques of popularisation. Ultimately, the movements developed from being a local phenomenon in County Mayo, to become part of a wider national scenario.[10] For White, Knock was a symbol of the modernisation of rural Ireland and an attempt to create national solidarity in the same way as a local pilgrimage site (such as a Holy well) created local solidarity. The arrival of urban pilgrims at Knock consolidated the devotional revolution, that process by which European devotions became the standard spiritual fare of Ireland's rural peasantry.[11]

In a reply to Hyne's criticism, White made an interesting point. He claimed that the primary function of the 1879 commission of inquiry was to basically propagate the cult of Knock and it was not as serious an investigation as had occurred in Lourdes and Marpingen.[12] Similar to Donnelly, White focused on Archdeacon Cavanagh as the individual who was responsible for the initial growth of the cult of Knock. Undoubtedly, Cavanagh played a major part, but he was only carrying out orders given to him from his superior, Archbishop MacHale. Is was MacHale who appointed the 1879 commission of inquiry and directed it. He never passed on its findings to Rome because he felt that the shrine did not require pontifical approval, all that it required was the approval of himself and the people.

Paul Bew's article A vision to the dispossessed focuses on the link between the apparition and nationalism, or more specifically, the link between the miracle-cure phenomenon and the Fenian, P.J. Gordon. The problem with this is that this link has already been discussed in detail before in works such as Liam Ua Cadhan's book, The Venerable Archdeacon Cavanagh, (Dublin, 1953). Bew also claims that by 1879, John MacHale was on the verge of death and easily manipulated by his conservative clerical nephew.[13] I disagree with this view. MacHale, despite his years, was still a man of powerful intellect and still very much in control and aware of his own political views. The reason for MacHale's surprising condemnation of the Land League in 1879 was not due to manipulation by his nephew but because the Archbishop had been ignored by Davitt and company, a major insult to the nationalist patriarch.

Donnelly, Bew and White all have failed to examine a vital element of the development of the cult of Knock, and that is the important role played by John MacHale. The Archbishop was a vital nationalist figure in nineteenth century Ireland. His involvement with the campaign for Catholic emancipation, Repeal of the Act of Union and his support for the Fenians had delivered the peasantry of western Ireland to the nationalist cause. His conflict with Paul Cullen transformed him into an even stronger, more stubborn advocate of nationalism.

Without the crucial involvement of the Archbishop, Knock shrine would not have expanded to become the famous international pilgrimage site that it is today. He successfully nurtured the shrine in its early months and propagated the cult of Knock so that by the following year, it was free to grow independently.

In the course of propagating and publicising the shrine, he inadvertently attracted to the shrine the attention and support of some prominent Fenians, most notably P.J. Gordon. One could argue that the collaboration between the Mayo clergy and the Fenians in Knock paralleled or even laid down the foundations for the reunion of nationalist movements with the Irish Catholic hierarchy during the late summer of 1879, whereby the clergy actively became involved in the Land war and the campaign for Home Rule, after the hierarchy's temporary abandonment of the nationalist cause during the Cullen-era.

In chapter one, I aim to examine the religious, economic and political background that existed in Ireland during the summer of 1879, which provides the vitally important backdrop to the Knock apparition. Only by examining this backdrop can one fully understand the social and political implications of the apparition. Primarily, I will look