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'Knock' (''An Cnoc'' in Irish, meaning ''The Hill'' – but now more generally known in Irish as ''Cnoc Mhuire'', "Hill of (the Virgin) Mary") is a small town in County Mayo in Ireland. Knock's notability derives from the Apparition of 1879, when, at 8.00PM on 21 August 1879, it was reported that the Virgin Mary, together with St Joseph and St John the Evangelist, appeared to local people.
In the 20th century it became one of Europe's major Roman Catholic Marian shrines, alongside Lourdes and Fatima. One and a half million pilgrims visit Knock Shrine annually. It was visited by Pope John Paul II, a supporter of devotion to the Virgin Mary, in 1979 to commemorate the centenary of the apparition.

Contents

Naming issue

Monsignor James Horan

External links

Naming issue

In the early 2000s, roadnames indicating Knock began carrying the Irish language translation ''An Cnoc (The Hill)'' instead of the commonly used name ''Cnoc Mhuire (Mary's Hill)''. The Irish Placenames Commission asserted that ''An Cnoc'' was more historically accurate; Knock is now outside of the Gaeltacht (the areas where Irish is spoken as a vernacular), but when the use of Irish was more widespread the town was referred to as ''An Cnoc''. Since approximately the 1920s/1930s, though, the name ''Cnoc Mhuire'' has been used in devotion to the Virgin Mary. After the issue was discussed in the Dáil (the Irish parliament), it was agreed that the folk translation of ''Cnoc Mhuire'' would be used, but that the affair should not be used as a basis to make further unrestricted changes to Irish translations of placenames.

Monsignor James Horan

Monsignor James Horan became parish priest of Knock in 1963 and achieved three major, landmark accomplishments.

★ Construction of a new basilica, Our Lady Queen of Ireland, at Knock Shrine in 1967 that can accommodate 10,000.

★ The construction of Ireland-West Airport was against a background of cynicism and reluctance in many quarters. This airport, which opened on October 25 1985, has injected a sustainable vitality into County Mayo and is an important catalyst in the region's economic welfare. The Monsignor travelled on the inaugural flight from Knock to Rome.

★ A visit by Pope John Paul II to visit Knock in 1979 to commemorate the centenary of the apparition.

External links

★ 'Knock Shrine'

★ 'Knock, Co Mayo'

★ 'Ireland-West Airport, Knock'