The moving statues () phenomenon occurred during the summer of 1985 in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, where, in several different parts of the country, statues of the

Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

were reported to move spontaneously. In

Ballinspittle Ballinspittle () is a village in County Cork, Ireland. It is in the Barony (Ireland), barony of Courceys and lies about southwest of Kinsale, on the R600 road (Ireland), R600 road. It is near Garrylucas and Garrettstown Blue Flag beach, Blue Fl ...

County Cork County Cork () is the largest and the southernmost Counties of Ireland, county of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, named after the city of Cork (city), Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster ...

, in July 1985, an observer claimed to have seen a roadside statue of the Virgin Mary move spontaneously. Similar occurrences were reported shortly afterward in

Mount Melleray Mount Melleray, also spelled Mountmelleray (), is a townland situated in the Knockmealdown Mountains near Cappoquin, County Waterford, Ireland. It is in the civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish of Lismore and Mocollop in the barony (Ireland), ...

County Waterford County Waterford () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. It is named after the city of Waterford. ...

, and at around 30 other locations around the country. They were not all

Marian apparitions A Marian apparition is a reported supernatural appearance of Mary, mother of Jesus, Mary, the mother of Jesus. While sometimes described as a type of vision, apparitions are generally regarded as external manifestations, whereas visions are mor ...

. Some involved other divine figures and/or saints who appeared in stains on church walls etc. Thousands gathered at many of the sites out of curiosity or to gaze in wonder and to pray. Up to 100,000 were said to have visited the Ballinspittle site alone.Mulholland, Peter. (2008) 'Moving Statues and Concrete Thinking'
Quaderns de l'Institut Català d'Antropologia: sèrie monogràfics 23
The

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

remained reticent or highly skeptical and a bishop declared the whole phenomenon 'an illusion'. The Ballinspittle statue was damaged by a gang of hammer-wielding

Pentecostal Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a movement within the broader Evangelical wing of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes direct personal experience of God in Christianity, God through Baptism with the Holy Spirit#Cl ...

protesters against

idolatry Idolatry is the worship of an idol as though it were a deity. In Abrahamic religions (namely Judaism, Samaritanism, Christianity, Islam, and the Baháʼí Faith) idolatry connotes the worship of something or someone other than the Abrahamic ...

(or Mariolatry), led by Robert Draper, who was found guilty of smashing other statues and went on to serve six months in prison, but the Ballinspittle statue was repaired. In 2002 the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

planned a documentary on the phenomenon. Author John D. Vose set out to see for himself in his book ''The Statues That Moved a Nation''. He interviewed witnesses who told him the most amazing stories of miraculous happenings. A team of psychologists based in

University College, Cork University College Cork – National University of Ireland, Cork (UCC) () is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland, and located in Cork. The university was founded in 1845 as one of three Queen's Colleges located in B ...

(UCC), recorded 31 apparition sites and explained the visions as being optical illusions caused by staring at objects in the evening twilight. Others have argued that the moving statues and other extraordinary international phenomenon like the " flying-saucer" religions and many other new religious and

occult The occult () is a category of esoteric or supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of organized religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving a 'hidden' or 'secret' agency, such as magic and mysti ...

movements are best explained as responses to an existential angst that was exacerbated by the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

and other sources of social stress but with ultimate origins in cultural or religious norms, family dynamics, and personal psychology. Anthropologist Peter Mulholland argues that the continuing role of Marian apparitions in Irish popular culture is a reflection of psychological insecurity stemming largely from adverse childhood experiences and a concatenation of historical, cultural, political, religious and sociological factors. Moving statues have also been reported in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, another devout Catholic country.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moving Statues Christian miracles 1985 in Ireland Statues of the Virgin Mary History of Catholicism in Ireland

See also

References