In 1985 statues across Ireland began to move.
On Valentine’s Day, in the village of Asdee, seven-year-old Elizabeth Flynn was saying Hail Marys when a statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus beckoned her with a curled finger. The Blessed Mother followed suit. When Elizabeth called to her sisters to tell them what she’d seen, other children flooded into the church.
Yes, they said, we see it too.
A few weeks later two girls in Ballydesmond reported a statue moving in Saint Patrick’s Church. A woman from the village fainted after witnessing the same but refused to talk about it, saying: If there’s a message, it will come again and more than me will see it.
In the seaside town of Courtmacsharry a group of tourists saw a statue move. Another in a grotto on the Waterford-to-Kilkenny road was said to breathe, her hands moving from center to right. In Waterford two boys reported a statue shifting her eyes outside the Mercy Convent School, while back in Asdee an eighty-year-old farmer saw the statue of the Virgin blink three times. In Cork city three children said a statue rocked so hard they feared she’d topple. In Rathdangan Mrs. Haddie Doyle observed Our Lady smile. In Kilfinane Geraldine O’Grady noticed the throat of the Blessed Mother’s statue move while Oliver Herbert witnessed her veil fall away to reveal a girl with long brown hair. A statue was said to sway in Mountcollins. In Mooncoin Bernadette O’Hanlon saw the Virgin open and close her left eye and a singular tear fall from the right.
In July Cathy O’Mahony stopped by the grotto at Ballinspittle to say the rosary with her two daughters when they noticed movement up the hill. The plaster Virgin’s chest was rising and falling, as if filled with air. The next night a hundred people flocked to Ballinspittle. Some saw the Virgin change expression. Others reported seeing her wave, smile, even blush.
I looked up and saw Our Lady ascending into heaven, said Josephine Foran. Her face became human like a baby’s. It was lovely pink flesh.
…
For more of this story or other great literary nonfiction in issue 14.2, order now in our online store. Digital copies only $5!
