Knock

The Marian Shrine in Knock, County Mayo is a place of pilgrimage for traditional Irish Catholics ever since the alleged appearance of the Virgin Mary, St. Joseph and St. John the Evangelist at the gable end of the local church in 1879.

I'm not one of the traditional faithful and I certainly do not believe that the apparition as described ever occurred. For what it's worth, I subscribe to the "magic lantern" hypothesis - the image was projected on to the wall using a primitive form of slide projection. Not that it ultimately matters, I think. Even if it could be proved conclusively that it was indeed a man-made event I think that Knock would continue to attract pilgrims. The attraction is surely not whether or not some supernatural event occurred there in the distant past but that it is a place of peace, reconciliation and devotion.

Be that as it may, I have always found the whole Knock phenomenon to be very interesting and so I visited the place on 28th July to do a photographic essay - something I have not done before: documentary style photography is not my thing - and I was not displeased with the results which can be found here: 


http://www.flickr.com/photos/johnfinn/sets/72157624486143291/ 

or

http://pix.ie/carrigman/album/383847

My first impressions of the place were positive. There is a fine large car park within easy distance of the shrine and there is no parking charge. On the way to the shrine there are various shops and stalls selling all sorts of souvenirs - holy pictures, rosary beads, statues, bottles for holy water, etc- and yes, they are cheap and tatty in the main.  However, they are part of any pilgrimage site and they obviously have an appeal for a great many people. I liked the fact that there was no hard sell on the part of the shopkeepers: you were free to browse - and photograph - without any pressure to purchase. Clearly,  there is a demand for the goods and in turn it provides employment for local people. I can't find anything wrong with that.

The shops are located outside the perimeter of the shrine itself. The shrine consists of various buildings including the original chapel where the apparition is supposed to have appeared and a vast basilica which can house 10,000 people.

Even though it was mid-week there was a large crowd of people there. They were predominately middle aged and elderly but there was a surprising number of young people there also. Nor were they exclusively Irish: there was a significant contingent of Americans and other nationalities.

The air of devotion was palpable. Masses were being said every couple of hours and there was also a performance of the Stations of the Cross while I was there. There was a steady stream of pilgrims circling the old church in an anti-clockwise direction while reciting the Rosary to themselves. One such pilgrim was this intense looking young woman:

 

  

I wonder what it was she was praying for? Help for some personal problem? The health of a relative? Whatever it was I hope her prayers are answered. 

 
There are no restrictions on photography at the shrine.  I used a not very inconspicuous Canon 5D Mark 11 and 24-105 and 70-210 lenses but thankfully people ignored me and I was free to shoot as I wished.

   
These are some of my favourite photos from the set:

 

I liked Knock. Yes, given that I am outside the fold of fervent belief so obvious amongst the pilgrims I felt at times like an anthropologist observing the practices of a strange tribe. But not completely. Anyone who, like me, comes from the Irish Catholic tradition will have been familiar with Knock from an early age. I remember my parents and others in my family ( I was too young) going on pilgrimages to Knock at a time when the transport arrangements made it a far more penitential affair than it is today. And, of course, the rites and practices of Catholicism are practically part of our DNA - at least for people of my generation and older.

I like the fact that for all my own agnosticism there are still thousands of people of all ages who regard Knock as a special place. Many of these people probably do the the gruelling Lough Derg pilgrimage and they climb Croagh Patrick - not too far from Knock - in their thousands on the last Sunday of July every year. It speaks of a certain magical/religious way of thinking embedded in the Irish psyche and far from decrying it I think it should be celebrated. It is part of what we are. Which is a somewhat paradoxical position for a supposed rationalist like myself to adopt but there you are. I'm probably not as immune to it as I think I am.