Is this real? Irish apparition was light trick by two boys, controversial book claims

umpirestrike

Irish apparition was light trick by two boys, controversial book claims

Old man brought secret to his grave but Canadian great grandson to reveal all


(BANFF, BC)AN Irish-Canadian author is set to stir massive controversy for the beleaguered Irish Church by publishing a book which claims that the apparition of Our Lady at Knock, County Mayo, Ireland in 1879 was a simple hoax carried out by his great grandfather and a friend using paraffin lamps and glass pieces.
The details of the light trick which the two boys carried out on their neighbours in the Irish village of Knock in the summer of 1979 has remained concealed in Thomas Mulliry's diaries which have been passed down through his family with the stipulation that they not be made public until at least 50 years after his death.
Now his great grandson Craig Mulliry is to publish a book which states that bearing the secret haunted his great-grandfather all his life.
Knock Shrine is one of the premier Marian Shrines in the world and was visited by Pope John Paul II during his trip to Ireland in 1979. However the new book entitled The Flickering Light claims that the apparition which was witnessed by more than a dozen people was a light trick carried out using a paraffin oil light and small panes of coloured glass.
Mr Mulliry died in a mountaineering accident near the Canadian city of Kamloops in November 1959, but the store owner who left Ireland around the turn of the century when he emigrated to Canada kept meticulous diaries which form the basis of the controversial book.
The 50th anniversary of his death passed last winter and the diaries were passed onto Craig Mulliry's family, but it was the freelance writer who realised the scope of the revelations.
Throughout his life, Thomas Mulliry made hundreds of entries relating to the alleged trick that he and a friend Stephen Casey played on their neighbours in the rural Mayo village in 1879.
The secret has remained in the Mulliry family for three generations as they were afraid of the backlash that would erupt if it emerged that they were doubting the apparition in any way. Now Craig Mulliry is hoping to publish the book before the end of this year, and is hoping to launch it in Mayo, Ireland.
"The publishers have said that this could be the Irish church's Da VInci Code in that it shatters a myth, but that is not what I am about. This book A Flickering Light is just the final revelation in an old man's diary. I know that people will be skeptical of the contents but the books contains a recognised authentication of the diaries and their dates.
"There is no way that I can be sure that he did what he did, but those who were his contemporaries spoke of his overbearing sadness throughout his life and his strong devotion to the church. There is also no logical explanation why he would claim such an act in his diaries and then insist that nobody see these until he was dead for half a century.
"We can see that he anguished over what he had done and often considered coming clean about it. He says in one diary entry in 1948 that he confessed to a priest in Vancouver about the trick, but the priest must not have believed him and didn't even advise him to tell the truth," said Mr Mulliry this week.
Craig Mulliry, who has penned the book said that the secret of the diary had been in the family for two generations.
"We were told as children that our great grandfather had done something of which he was very ashamed, but we were told not to ask or enquire about it. However, imagine our surprise when we discovered that what he was ashamed of was just a boyhood trick. However, it is important that we reveal his diaries now and allow people to make up their own minds," he said. He said that he hoped that a reconstruction of the alleged trick using the light conditions in Ireland in August would be possible. However, he is unsure about the reception his book will get in County Mayo where pilgrimages to Knock are worth millions to the local economy.

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happyoutscan

As a non-believer I'd believe the possibility of this scenario although until I read the book I can't say if I believe THIS scenario. It does sound like a good story though. He'd be brave to launch this in Mayo though!







Someone ring Midwest...

RoadKillTs

I'd say its a good read allright. It's a amazing the things people believed in the past.

China is going to lose out big time

Shiminay

My mother is one of the organists in the Shrine, I'm gonna give her a shout and ask her if she'd ask if Monsignor Quinn would care to comment.

PogMoThoin

This has been mentined here before, but that it was British soldiers that did it with lanterns, I'll have a look for the old thread now

Here: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055208459&highlight=knock

alex73

Hoax post above! No Mulliry ever lived in Mayo.

happyoutscan

alex73 wrote: »

Hoax post above! No Mulliry ever lived in Mayo.

How can you be so sure about that?

Shiminay

Yes, the people in keeping note of births and deaths are never wrong and always keep hugely accurate data - especially in the 1800s I mean I was born in 1978 and they don't even have accurate details for me!

I'm not sure about the apparition itself, but I'm equally unsure about claims like this, in a book about it's origins.

Spoke with my mother, apparently the boss man is out of the office and she didn't think it's the sort of thing either he, or the Shrine's press or the Church's press people would comment on so I guess we'll just play the "wait and see" on it

nuac

Will wait to read the book. Often thought the Catholic Church should have given more attention to Croagh Patrick. Place of pilgrimage even back in pagan times, reasonably certain that St Patrick climbed it.

Pope should have been brought to Croagh Patrick in 1979.

alex73

happyoutscan wrote: »

How can you be so sure about that?

There are no "Mulliry"family in Mayo or in the 1800's , No Births, Deaths or marriages... Check the records. The post above is a hoax.

happyoutscan

alex73 wrote: »

There are no "Mulliry"family in Mayo or in the 1800's , No Births, Deaths or marriages... Check the records. The post above is a hoax.

I don't need to, I'm smart enough to realize that the original 'Mulliry' name would have changed over time as a result of spelling errors on documentation, poor education, lost in translation etc.

Do a bit of basic research.

DublinWriter

Very interesting.

For the past ten years various sources have popped up stating that the Knock Apparition was indeed a magic-lantern trick.

Even some original eye-witness statements claim that the apparition was very flat and static in nature.

DublinWriter

alex73 wrote: »

There are no "Mulliry"family in Mayo or in the 1800's , No Births, Deaths or marriages... Check the records. The post above is a hoax.

If it's a hoax, then praise be it's a miracle?

B.S. - widen your search, it took me about 60 seconds to locate a Thomas Mullarkey of Knockafarson in the 1911 census. There's also plenty of Mullarys in Mayo listed in Mayo for the same census.

Ascii

Find the whole story of the two boys doing tricks with the paraffin lamps very hard to believe. People were starving to death because of the lack of spuds, but lamps and paraffin were in plentiful supply for people to go round trying out tricks of illusion. :D

Would seriously question the family history of the Mulliry name in Knock. Only one thing to do, hope he comes for a visit to launch the book and brings his family tree to show us all.

IMO, it looks like free publicity for a hapless author trying out his conspiricy theories.

alex73

Ascii wrote: »

Find the whole story of the two boys doing tricks with the paraffin lamps very hard to believe. People were starving to death because of the lack of spuds, but lamps and paraffin were in plentiful supply for people to go round trying out tricks of illusion. :D

Would seriously question the family history of the Mulliry name in Knock. Only one thing to do, hope he comes for a visit to launch the book and brings his family tree to show us all.

IMO, it looks like free publicity for a hapless author trying out his conspiricy theories.

Ah sure..... Its just curiosity that will drive people to buy the book and then they will see its a hoax.. There were no Mulliry's in Mayo on the 1800's. But if the Mulliry boys did exist they would need some serious equipment to perform the apparition, It was not only a matter of projecting a picture but also making it move. Sure this could be done today,, but by 2 boys in 1879????

But the facts show to start with that they were never even born, unless they were not called Mulliry.

nuac

BVM may or may not have appeared at Knock 1879. However many devout people come there to pray each year, and it therefore serves a purpose in this troubled world.

Some other not so devout people come to prey, but sin scéal eile.

Re Mulliry/Mullery etc versions of names have varied widely, especially after emigration.

Shiminay

nuac wrote: »

BVM may or may not have appeared at Knock 1879. However many devout people come there to pray each year, and it therefore serves a purpose in this troubled world.

^^^^ This.

It's my belief that as humans we give power to that which we believe has power. As a result Knock Shrine is a powerful place and is unquestionably fulfilling a role in this regard.

Just for clarification, my religious beliefs are pagan, so it's not a place I would go to "worship" but there's no doubt in my mind about the energy and strength of the place. So I'd suggest that at this point it wouldn't matter what the book revealed. The Shroud of Turin was revealed to be from the middle ages and therefore couldn't possibly be the fabric used to cover the body of Jesus, yet people still "believed" in it after the fact (and yes, I'm aware that it's still an issue of contention, but I'm referencing it to make my point). It's a form of delusion if you want to be absolute about it, but it's also the core of faith - you believe despite no supporting evidence or indeed, in some cases, evidence to the contrary

DublinWriter

nuac wrote: »

Some other not so devout people come to prey, but sin scéal eile.

As a Catholic/Christian that's hardly for you to judge?

nuac

DublinWriter - about the not so devout people who come to Knock to prey - that observation is based on my personal knowledge and experience of meeting such people in Knock over the years.