There was no comment at the weekend from the Bishop of Raphoe, Dr. Philip Boyce, over claims from a group of 14 people who say they witnessed the statue of Our Lady at the shrine site of Kerrytown turn into human form and also wept tears.
The group, drawn to the site near Dungloe after a Dublin based spiritual healer had predicted an apparition there some months ago, insisted that they had seen a series of crosses appear in the sky above the shrine before the face on the statue took o
n the appearance of a young woman. Some witnesses said the statue had then wept while there were also reports of a red heart changing form on the statue.
Kerrytown became a pilgrimage site after members of a local family claimed to have seen Our Lady and the Holy Family on a rock on January 11th, 1939. Two sisters, Mary and Theresa Ward, reported seeing a brightness before sighting the Blessed Virgin after which they alerted other members of their family.
The latest apparition came after Dubliner, Joe Coleman, said the Virgin Mary, who had appeared to him on a number of occasions, had informed him last June that there would be an appearance at Kerrytown on Tuesday, September 29th. Mr. Coleman, who conducts healing services and also describes himself as a clairvoyant, contacted several people in the locality who had attended a healing service with him in Dungloe.
One of those who witnessed the phenomenon, Neil, - who didn’t wish to identify himself fully - told the ‘People’s Press/Democrat’: “I have been to Kerrytown on a different occasions but I have never experienced anything like this before. It was amazing, I just couldn’t believe it.
“First there were these crosses appearing in the sky above the statue of Our Lady, all of them different sizes. They kept appearing and reappearing above the rock.
“Then the head on the statue seemed to disappear for a moment and then became human. It was the head of a very young girl. I couldn’t believe it,” he repeated.
Neil reported seeing the statue turn a blueish colour in front of him and a red heart on the statue changing form. A “sparkling crown” had also appeared on the head of the statue. “Nobody who was there was afraid, we were all very calm in fact.
“I didn’t really believe Joe Coleman when he told us what was going to happen and I went along not expecting to see anything. Since it happened, I can’t get over it - it’s something that keeps coming back into my mind again and again. I know people are very sceptical about it and if there’s only been one person there they might have had reason. But there were 14 of us there and not all of us would have imagined it even if some people saw a slight variation of events.”
The East Donegal man confirmed that nobody had taken a photograph of the series of apparitions. “We were all so taken aback and amazed, it was the last thing we were thinking of. It’s something I regret very badly since but we all know what we saw.”
Ardara man, James Boyle, who were present on Tuesday night along with his wife Margaret and two children, said the group had just started the rosary when the crosses started appearing in the sky. Then the head on the statue of Our Lady had altered.
