An Exorcism at the Grotto?
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| Sunday Independent 31 Aug 1986 |
Seemingly, two priests had performed the rite after a young girl became distressed when she saw "the devil in the form of a huge black shadow" appear over the grotto.
According to the Herald, the Bishop of Cork, Dr Michael Murphy, "thoroughly disapproved" of the priests' actions and would be "requesting a complete report on the incident."
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The grotto, which had been built in 1969 by John and Kitty McCarthy after their daughter, Mary, died aged 17, [1] had become a place of pilgrimage in 1986 after two local children and a woman claimed to have had a number of sightings of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
The woman, identified by the Sunday Independent as Mary Casey, had her first sighting on 25 June 1985. She said that the statue of the Blessed Virgin disappeared - and a girl of about 17 years of age "with shorter length brown hair and blue eyes" appeared in its place.
"She smiled and had dimples on either side of her mouth," said Casey. "I fainted and when I came around and looked again about five minutes later she was still there."
The young girl spoke to Casey on 27 July 1985. "I am the Queen of Peace," she said, before requesting that people pray more, say the Rosary, go to Mass, and fast.
The younger witnesses were identified as Mary Vaughan, aged 10, and Rosemary Sullivan, aged 11.
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On Monday, 25 August 1986, the Irish Independent reported that the bishop, Dr Michael Murphy, was now claiming that there had been no exorcism at the grotto. What had actually happened was that "two priests comforted and prayed with a girl who was deeply distraught."
Apparently, both priests had spoken directly to the bishop and had "clarified" what had taken place. Seemingly, they had been visiting the shrine and saw the girl become distressed. "They did what any priest might do, they said some prayers and tried to comfort her," explained the bishop.
"I am satisfied there was no Exorcism."
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And that was that.
However, the Sunday Independent returned to the story on 31 August 1986, uncovering a number of interesting details.
Firstly: according to the article, Inchigeelah had two grottos: one built by the McCarthys; and another one described as the "parish grotto."
For about 12 months, the Blessed Virgin had been appearing to the two young girls, Mary Vaughan and Rosemary Sullivan, at the McCarthy grotto. However, two week before the "exorcism" incident, the girls were told to go to the "parish grotto." [2]
It was at this "parish grotto" that the "devil in the form of a black shadow" appeared.
Secondly: while the bishop may have been "satisfied" that there had been no exorcism and that the two priests had confined themselves to comforting the distressed girl and praying with her, witnesses reported seeing the priests blessing the site with holy water. And while this is not evidence of an exorcism, it certainly casts some doubt on the version of events given by the priests - or the version related via their bishop.
Whatever happened in Inchigeelagh, it didn't deter the pilgrims. According to the Sunday Independent, even in the wake of the “exorcism” story about 3,000 of them were still coming to see the shrine every week.
It remains a place of pilgrimage today.
Notes
1 According to the McCarthys, building the grotto had been Mary's "last wish," and she'd had chosen the site in Inchigeelagh shortly before her death.
2 While the Sunday Independent doesn't spell it out, it's implied that the Blessed Virgin gave them this instruction.
Sources:
Evening Herald, 23 August 1986
Sunday Independent, 24 & 31 August 1986
Irish Independent, 25 August 1986
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