O
OneGoodIrishman
Guest
I am an American from California, and was in Ireland. I was staying at the Gresham Hotel, and went to Temple Bar for a beer. A man walked up to me and asked if I was in Ireland to see the expected apparition of the Virgin Mary at Achill Island the following day. I said no, but was going to go to Westport in the morning. While waiting for the bus, an elderly lady came up to me and asked me questions about Our Lady. We had a brief chat, and I got on the bus. I got to Westport, and found out that Achill Island was close, so I caught another bus and headed for Christina Gallagher’s church where this apparition was supposed to occur. I was surprised to hear radio dj’s talking about this same apparition. To my dismay, so many people were trying to go, the Irish Army had blocked the access road to the island. I had come this far, so I just got off the bus, and used some of my old army training started walking…several miles later, I was at the church: but there were so many people in the courtyard of the church, that nobody else could get in. People were kneeling in the yard praying in Irish Gaelic. I began to pray too. I remembered then that I had no ticket back to Westport. I started walking back. I stopped by a small store and inquired about a possible taxi. The lady was nice, but told me that with all those people, and only one active taxi on the island, I was not going to get one. I started walking again, and the sun was starting to sink a bit low…all of a sudden, a taxi pulls up, driven by a man named Thomas McIntyre. He gave me a ride back to the hotel, but asked me why I was there. I told him about the apparition, and he told me I needed to go to Knock: and he was taking his son the next morning, and would give me a lift. He picked me up the next morning. I got to Knock, entered the confessional, and the priest told me I was in Our Lady’s Army. After receiving absolution, I went out into this cement grotto, with nothing but dank concrete surrounding a crucifix and a statue of Our Lady. I started praying the Rosary. All of a sudden, the most overpowering smell of roses was all around me. I looked for flowers: none near. I did not see Our Lady, but felt the most powerful sense of peace. To this day, I believe that Mary sent that taxi to Achill to take me into her presence at Knock. That changed my life.
