New Mosaic Knock Shrine in Co. Mayo

Ireland's Marian Shrine at Knock, Co. Mayo, in the West of Ireland. Knock Shrine is visited by over one million people each year.

The Shrine has had a huge new mosaic commissioned and that mosaic was unveiled at Mass yesterday, 28th Feb 2016.

One of the largest mosaics of its kind in Europe, the huge and impressive artwork was officially unveiled by the Most Rev Michael Neary D.D., Archbishop of Tuam during the 12 noon Mass. It is composed of more than 1.5 million individual pieces of mosaic and forms part of a major, two-year refurbishment of Knock Basilica and an overall renewal project at Ireland’s National Marian Shrine, called ‘Witness to Hope’.

At the ceremony on Sunday, 15 local people, some of them descendants of those who witnessed the Apparition in 1879, performed a short candlelit procession to commemorate the extraordinary events in Knock 137 years ago.

Those events still draw over one million pilgrims from Ireland and abroad to Ireland’s Marian shrine each year.

The Knock mosaic was illustrated by the prominent Irish artist P.J. Lynch and depicts in vivid detail the Apparition scene and the ordinary villagers, of all ages, who witnessed the heavenly vision.

A team of world leaders in traditional religious mosaic, Travisanutto Mosaics, spent nine months piecing together the intricate artwork in their workshop in Spilimbergo, near Venice, Italy, before it was transported in some 300 sections to Knock Shrine in early January.

Travisanutto Mosaics has worked at some of the most important religious sites around the world, including the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem and the Basilica of Immaculate Conception in Washington DC.

Speaking at the unveiling, Fr Richard Gibbons, PP, Rector of Knock Shrine, said the mosaic is a “very special piece of art”.

More info on the Shrine website here.