In the days before this year’s All-Ireland football final, outside Kerry, it seemed that most of the country wanted Mayo to win.
It may have been an exaggeration, but probably not by much. Mayo had been waiting since 1951 to bring Sam Maguire home and had come painfully close so many times since. Whether you believe it was down to a curse or not is up to you, but on July 26 they beat reigning champions Kerry and, after 75 years, Mayo were All-Ireland champions.
Even if another 75 years were to pass before Mayo lifted Sam again, the summer of 2026 will still be talked about.
There is something fitting, then, about the hundreds of people from Donegal who will travel to Mayo this Saturday for the annual Raphoe diocesan pilgrimage to Knock. Pilgrims tend to make that journey with feelings of hope and expectancy, carrying their own intentions and looking forward to the particular peace that Knock can bring.
This year, I suspect a bit of Mayo’s All-Ireland joy will travel with them too.
I was in Knock earlier this year, travelling with a choir from Gaoth Dobhair when the parish priest, Fr Brian O’Fearraigh, was celebrating Mass there. It had been many years since I had last visited, so many that I had only vague memories of the place.
What struck me this time was how peaceful it felt. There is a serenity within the grounds that is difficult to convey until you are actually there. It was a privilege for us to sing at the Mass.
Like most people who go to Knock, we had brought our own intentions. Afterwards came another familiar part of the visit: buying souvenirs and filling bottles of Knock holy water to take home.
Knock Shrine says few pilgrims leave without filling a container to bring home. There are 18 outdoor holy water fonts in front of the Apparition Chapel, making it easy for pilgrims to fill as many bottles as they wish.
Anyone who has ever been asked to bring one home will recognise the tradition. It’s one of those small but meaningful rituals that has become inseparable from a visit to Knock.
The story of the shrine began on a wet August evening in 1879, when 15 people gave accounts of an apparition at the gable wall of the parish church. Pilgrims began arriving soon afterwards.
By August of the following year, more than 1,000 Irish emigrants had travelled from Manchester. Almost 150 years later, people are still making the journey.
This year’s National Novena has added significance because it marks 50 years since the opening of Knock Basilica, a place where people have long gone carrying things that weigh on them.
Fr John Joe Duffy
Donegal has its own place in that story. In 2023, Fr John Joe Duffy of Creeslough spoke at the Novena about the explosion that claimed 10 lives, recalling how he had asked Our Lady of Knock for help as the scale of the tragedy became clear. His words were a reminder of the deeply personal place Knock can hold in people’s lives, particularly at times of grief or great difficulty.
That connection is important when considering its continuing appeal, because Ireland’s relationship with the Catholic Church has changed enormously during Knock’s lifetime.
In 2016, 79 per cent of the population identified as Roman Catholic. By 2022 that had fallen to 69 per cent, while in Donegal the figure fell from 82 to 77 per cent and more than 13,400 people said they had no religion.
The census measures religious identification rather than private faith, but the change is significant.
Against that backdrop, it is striking that Knock Shrine says more than one million people still visit each year.
People can have a complicated relationship with the Church and still feel drawn to Knock. Perhaps that helps explain why the buses still leave Donegal year after year.
For some, the journey is an expression of deep faith. For others, part of its meaning may lie in family memory or tradition, and sometimes the reason for going is known only to the person making the journey.
Yet one part of the pilgrimage remains familiar: there is often somebody at home asking to be remembered at Knock. And quite often, waiting for a bottle of holy water when they come back.
The Fresh Take column is written by Sabrina Sweeney and features every Thursday in the Donegal News.