From the archives: Apparition at Mayo church in January 1946
By Tom Gillespie
ON March 2, 1946, The Connaught Telegraph reported on a ‘children’s story of an apparition at Kilmovee’.
It stated: Five young children, whose ages range from 3½ to 11 years, claim to have seen, on two occasions, an apparition, resembling a statue of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, on the belfry of the Church of the Immaculate Conception, Kilmovee.
The alleged apparition has aroused widespread interest in the district, where it is now (March 1946) generally accepted that the children did see something.
The children are: Marie Celine (9½), Mary Colette (8½), Jean (6½), daughters and son of Garda and Mrs. Keavney, Kilmovee; and Christobel Fee (11), daughter of Garda and Mrs. Fee, Kilmovee. They all live close to the parish church.
Although rather shy when asked for an interview, Marie Celine Keavney said: “We were playing around the church grounds on Saturday, January 26. We were climbing upon the church boundary wall and jumping down on the ground. It was about a quarter to six in the evening.
“I happened to look up, and on the belfry of the church, I saw a statue-like figure wearing a brown veil and with its hands joined as in prayer. I pointed it out to the other children and we all knelt down and started to pray.
“After we had said three ‘Hail Marys’ the figure disappeared, and we immediately went home and told the news to mother.”
When the children told their parents what they had seen they thought they were joking and did not put much attention to the story.
However, the news eventually circulated throughout the parish and reached the ears of Very Rev. Father F. Burke, and the curate, Rev. Fr. Durcan, who questioned the children and advised them to go along to the church again on the following Saturday.
In the presence of a large gathering of people, some of whom had travelled long distances to see the apparition, the children went to the church on the following Saturday, but after remaining there for some time nothing happened.
Continuing, Marine Celine said: “On the third Saturday (February 9) we were again playing around the church grounds when we saw, also on the belfry of the church, a similar apparition. It was the very same as the first one - dressed with a brown veil and with hands joined. It was inside the window of the belfry and I could only see part of the body, with the hands joined and the brown veil over the head.
“This time we knelt down and after we had said 19 ‘Hail Marys’ it disappeared. Every time we said the word ‘Jesus’ while saying the ‘Hail Marys’ the figure bowed its head.
“We did not see anything since that day.”
The five young witnesses of the apparition were present during the interview and all agreed with what Marie Celine said.
Christobel Fee (11) added: “I thought it resembled the statue of Our Lady of Mount Carmel as I had seen pictures of her in which she wore the brown veil and had her hands joined.”
Even little Desmond (3½), - whose surname was not mentioned in the article - the youngest of the child witnesses, said to his mother after seeing the apparition on the first occasion: “I saw the lady at the church today.”
Questioned by our correspondent, local residents are quite genuine in their belief that the children saw something, and the fact that the children knelt down and prayed has led to the belief that the visitation was a supernatural one.
The Church of the Immaculate Conception, Kilmovee, is an imposing limestone structure picturesquely situated on a gentle slope overlooking the village, which consists of about 14 or 15 scattered houses.
The windows of the belfry are roughly 25 feet from the ground, and it was at the window facing towards the rear of the church that the children say they saw the apparition.