DANA Lady of Knock (with Fr. Bill Quinlivan) 2009 (FoD120)

DANA performing her pièce de résistance with guest Fr. Bill Quinlivan on the EWTN show, DANA & Friends. This may well be the earliest video of her singing the unforgettable Lady of Knock. And what a collector's item it is. She wrote it with the help of husband Damien on their way back to Rostrevor after visiting Knock Shrine in County Mayo in 1981. As she was leaving the church the curate asked if she could write a song about the apparition. She declined the task at first until on the long journey home the melody came into her head. While doing a pop music session at Morgan Studios in London she found time to record it and sent a copy to the curate. It was released as a single in Ireland and climbed to number 23 that year.

But it didn't get a mention in her first book, DANA: An Autobiography, published in 1985. Perhaps she thought it was too local to be of much interest to the rest of the world. Years later while on holiday in Florida she was surprised to discover it was the most popular number on Irish radio stations in America, and had been recorded by almost every prominent Irish artist in the states. So, with over a million visitors annually to the shrine, the only way is up for the uplifting Lady of Knock by DANA and Damien Scallon.

As apparitions go this one seems hard to knock:

“The evening of Thursday, 21 August 1879, was a very wet night. At about 8 o'clock it was raining as Mary Byrne, who was from the village, was going home with the priest's housekeeper, Mary McLoughlin. Byrne stopped suddenly when she saw the gable of the church. She claimed she saw three life-size figures. She ran home to tell her parents and soon others from the village gathered. The witnesses said they saw an apparition of Our Lady, Saint Joseph and Saint John the Evangelist at the south gable end of the Church of Saint John the Baptist. Behind them and a little to the left of Saint John was a plain altar. On the altar was a cross and a lamb, with angels.

“A farmer, about half a mile away from the scene, later described what he saw as a large globe of golden light above and around the gable, circular in appearance. For nearly two hours a group that fluctuated between two and perhaps as many as twenty-five stood or kneeled, gazing at the figures. It was raining. Those identified as witnesses (and relatives) were Mary Byrne/Margaret Beirne, aged 29, and her mother Margaret Beirne, aged 68, her younger adult sister Margaret Beirne, her younger adult brother Dominick Beirne, her eight-year-old niece Catherine Murray, and Dominick Beirne, who was an elder cousin, Dominick's five-year-old nephew John Curry, and Patrick Beirne, who was possibly also a relative. It was 11-year-old Patrick Hill who is thought to have given the most detailed description of the vision.

“The apparitions, for believing Catholics, held significant eschatological significance. Much work has been done to interpret the message received in the village by Catholic eschatological scholars such as Emmett O'Reagan.

“The vision of Mary was described as being beautiful, standing a few feet above the ground. She was described as wearing a white cloak, hanging in full folds and fastened at the neck. She was described as "deep in prayer", with her eyes raised to heaven, her hands raised to the shoulders or a little higher, the palms inclined slightly to the shoulders.

“Saint Joseph was described as wearing white robes and standing at the Virgin's right hand. His head was described as bent forward from the shoulders towards the Blessed Virgin. Saint John the Evangelist stood to the left of the Blessed Virgin. He was dressed in a long robe and wore a mitre. He was partly turned away from the other figures. Some witnesses reported that Saint John appeared to be preaching and that he held open a large book in his left hand. Others did not. To the left of Saint John some said there was an altar with a lamb on it with a cross standing on the altar behind the lamb.

“Those who witnessed the apparition stood in the rain for up to two hours reciting the Rosary. When the apparition began there was good light, but although it then became dark, witnesses said they could still see the figures. They said the apparitions did not flicker or move in any way. The witnesses reported that the ground around the figures remained completely dry during the apparition although the wind was blowing from the south.

“The entire apparition wall was soon torn apart by pilgrims chipping out the cement, mortar, and stones for souvenirs and to use for cures.” (Wikipedia)

Trivia: DANA & Friends ran for three seasons on EWTN, the largest Catholic cable television network in America, and possibly the world's largest religious media network. The video comes from the season one DVD, a 5-hour long 3-disc set issued in 2009.