Greg Daly
A new documentary film on Knock and its apparition will open in Irish cinemas on August 26.
Strange Occurrences in a Small Irish Village looks at all aspects of Knock, from the historic apparition of 1879 to the more than one million pilgrims who visit the shrine annually and the community welcoming the faithful visitors.
The film takes its title from 1879 press coverage of events in Knock and was directed by Aoife Kelleher, who was responsible for the critically acclaimed documentary on Glasnevin cemetery, One Million Dubliners. Of the latest project, she said: “At the very heart of Knock is this story about an apparition, but in making the documentary we wanted to look at the apparition in its social context and its historical context.
“The story itself is so fantastic that you completely want to get to the bottom of it. You want to know what it is that they saw and how it was spoken about at the time.”
Strange Occurrences in a Small Irish Village has a Facebook page for updates on cinemas to screen the film: https://www.facebook.com/knockfilm/