Knock Museum

Our Lady of Knock, Queen of Ireland Basilica, Knock, Co. Mayo

Our Lady of Knock, Queen of Ireland Basilica at Knock, Co. Mayo, was built to cater for the huge numbers of pilgrims who visit Knock Shrine every year.

Our Lady of Knock, Queen of Ireland Basilica, Knock, Co. Mayo

Our Lady of Knock, Queen of Ireland Basilica at Knock, Co. Mayo, was built to cater for the huge numbers of pilgrims who visit Knock Shrine every year.

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Knock Museum tells the story of the Knock Apparition at Knock, Co. Mayo in 1879. It describes how fifteen local Roman Catholic witnesses claimed to have seen the Lamb of God, the Virgin Mary, St. Joseph and St. John the Evangelist at the south gable of the local parish church on 21 August, 1879. Visitors can read the testimony of pilgrims describing how they were miraculously cured and listen to the memories and stories of some of the one and a half million pilgrims who visit Knock Shrine each year.

The museum charts the development of Knock from a small rural village into an international Marian Shrine. It focuses on the visits of Pope John Paul II in 1979 and Mother Teresa of Calcutta in 1993. Monsignor James Horan, who was responsible for the building of Knock Basilica and Knock Airport, is given a special place in the museum. The museum also places the Apparition in the context of life at that time from living in the thatched house to working in the forge.

The Knock shrine complex incorporates five churches including the Apparition Church, Parish Church, Basilica, Blessed Sacrament Chapel and Chapel of Reconciliation.

Other facilities include a religious book centre, caravan and camping park, hotel and the Knock Museum. The entire complex is set within 100 acres of landscaped gardens.

Gallery

Apparition Chapel, Knock Shrine, Knock, Co. Mayo

The Apparition Chapel at Knock Shrine, Knock Shrine, Knock, Co. Mayo contains a sculpure depicting, the Lamb of God, the Virgin Mary, St. Joseph and St. John the Evangelist. They appeared in an alleged apparition to local people in 1879.

(c) Knock

Apparition Chapel, Knock Shrine, Knock, Co. Mayo - (c) Knock

Original handwritten deposition of Judy Campbell, October 1879

A portion of the handwritten deposition of Judy Campbell, a witness to the alleged apparition of the Virgin Mary, St. Joseph and St. John the Evangelist at Knock, in August 1879.

Original handwritten deposition of Judy Campbell, October 1879 -

Chapel of Reconciliation, Knock, Co. Mayo

The Chapel of Reconciliation at at Knock, Co. Mayo caters for the huge numbers of pilgrims who visit Knock Shrine.

Chapel of Reconciliation, Knock, Co. Mayo -

Thatched House, Knock Museum, Co. Mayo

The interior of a thatched house at Knock Museum, Co. Mayo. In the 19th century the overwhelmingly Catholic tenants of Co. Mayo lived simply in thatch dwellings heated by turf fires.

Thatched House, Knock Museum, Co. Mayo -

Blacksmith's Forge, Knock Museum, Knock, Co. Mayo

Before the modern era, in rural Ireland, the local blacksmith shod horses and made all manner of tools and implements for the local farming community.

Blacksmith's Forge, Knock Museum, Knock, Co. Mayo -

Website: www.knock-shrine.ie

Address:

Knock Shrine,

Knock,

Co. Mayo

Telephone: +353 (0) 94 9375034

email: museum@knock-shrine.ie

Click here to see a map showing Knock Shrine.

Opening:

May-October 10-6pm daily

November-April 10-4pm daily