Achill Island is an island off the west coast of Ireland in the historical barony of Burrishoole, County Mayo. It is the largest of the Irish isles and has an area of approximately 148 km2 (57 sq mi). Achill had a population of 2,345 in the 2022 census. The island, which has been connected to the mainland by a bridge since 1887, is served by Michael Davitt Bridge, between the villages of Achill Sound and Polranny. Other centres of population include the villages of Keel, Dooagh, Dooega, Dooniver, and Dugort. There are a number of peat bogs on the island.
Dana Rosemary Scallon known professionally as Dana, is an Irish singer, songwriter and politician.
Knock is a village in County Mayo, Ireland.
The Catholic Church in the United States is part of the worldwide Catholic Church in communion with the pope. With 23 percent of the United States' population as of 2018, the Catholic Church is the country's second-largest religious grouping after Protestantism, and the country's largest single church if Protestantism is divided into separate denominations. In a 2020 Gallup poll, 25% of Americans said they were Catholic. The United States has the fourth-largest Catholic population in the world, after Brazil, Mexico, and the Philippines.
John Waters is a far-right Irish columnist, political candidate and author. He started his career with music and politics magazine, Hot Press, and also wrote for the Sunday Tribune newspaper. He later edited the social magazine In Dublin, and the investigative and current affairs magazine Magill. He became a regular columnist at the Irish Times and then the Irish Independent, while authoring some works on non-fiction, and developed The Whoseday Book, which raised 3 million euros for charity. He has also been a member of the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland.
The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception is a Catholic minor basilica and national shrine in Washington D.C. It is the largest Catholic church building in North America and is also the tallest habitable building in Washington, D.C. Its construction of Byzantine and Romanesque Revival architecture began on 23 September 1920.
The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Knock, commonly referred to as Knock Shrine, is a Roman Catholic pilgrimage site and national shrine in the village of Knock, County Mayo, Ireland, where locals claimed to have seen an apparition in 1879 of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint Joseph, Saint John the Evangelist, angels, and Jesus Christ.
The Immaculate Heart of Mary is a Catholic devotion which refers to the view of the interior life of Mary, her joys and sorrows, her virtues and hidden perfections, and, above all, her virginal love for God the Father, her maternal love for her son Jesus Christ, and her motherly and compassionate love for all mankind. Traditionally, the Immaculate Heart is depicted pierced with seven swords or wounds, in homage to the seven dolors of Mary and roses, usually red or white, wrapped around the heart.
Daniel Francis Noel O'Donnell, MBE is an Irish singer, television presenter and philanthropist. After rising to public attention in 1983, he has since become a household name in Ireland and Britain; he has also had considerable success in Australia. In 2012, he became the first artist to have a different album in the British charts every year for 25 consecutive years. This record has been extended and as of 2021, O'Donnell has had an album in the Official Albums Chart each year for the last 33 years making him one of the most successful recording artists of all time.
Margo is an Irish singer. She rose to prominence during the 1960s in the Irish country music scene and has had a long career since.
The history of Catholic Mariology traces theological developments and views regarding Mary from the early Church to the 21st century. Mariology is a mainly Catholic ecclesiological study within theology, which centers on the relation of Mary, the Mother of God, and the Church. Theologically, it not only deals with her life but with her veneration in life and prayer, in art, music, and architecture, from ancient Christianity to modern times.
The veneration of Mary in the Catholic Church encompasses various devotions which include prayer, pious acts, visual arts, poetry, and music devoted to her. Popes have encouraged it, while also taking steps to reform some manifestations of it. The Holy See has insisted on the importance of distinguishing "true from false devotion, and authentic doctrine from its deformations by excess or defect". There are significantly more titles, feasts, and venerative Marian practices among Roman Catholics than in other Western Christian traditions. The term hyperdulia indicates the special veneration due to Mary, greater than the ordinary dulia for other saints, but utterly unlike the latria due only to God.
Mary, Help of Christians is a Catholic title of the Blessed Virgin Mary, based on a devotion now associated with a feast day of the General Roman Calendar on 24 May. The Catholic saint, John Chrysostom was the first person to use this Marian title in year 345 A.D. Don Bosco also propagated the same devotion Mary, Help of Christians. It is also associated with the defense of Christian Europe, the north of Africa and the Middle East from non-Christian peoples during the Middle Ages.
Medjugorje, a village in the south of Bosnia and Herzegovina, has been the site of alleged apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary since 24 June 1981. Various officials of the Catholic Church have attempted to discern the validity of these Marian apparitions in order to provide guidance to potential devotees and pilgrims. On 7 December 2017, it was reported that Archbishop Hoser, Pope Francis' envoy to Medjugorje, announced that official pilgrimages are allowed, stating, "dioceses and other institutions can organize official pilgrimages." This pilgrimage was officially authorized by the Holy See in May 2019. The approval was not intended to signify recognition of the apparitions, but acknowledge the faith and pastoral needs of the pilgrims. In Aug 2024, Pope Francis granted approval for devotions linked to Medjugorje: "The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, with the assent of Pope Francis, grants approval for devotion linked to Medjugorje, recognizing the abundant spiritual fruits received at the Sanctuary of the Queen of Peace without making a declaration on the supernatural character of the Marian apparitions."
Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage, also known as Our Lady of Antipolo and the Virgin of Antipolo, is a seventeenth-century Roman Catholic wooden image of the Blessed Virgin Mary as venerated in the Philippines. This Black Madonna is enshrined in Antipolo Cathedral in the Sierra Madre mountains east of Metro Manila.
In the Catholic Church, several locations around the world invoke the patronage of the Immaculate Conception. Catholic diocesan authorities with the expressed and written approval of the Pope in countries including the United States, Brazil, Korea, the Philippines and Spain designate the Blessed Virgin Mary as their principal patroness.
Brendan Leahy is an Irish Roman Catholic prelate and theologian who has served as Bishop of Limerick since 2013.
Kevin Peter Doran is an Irish Roman Catholic prelate, bioethicist and theologian who has served as Bishop of Elphin since 2014.
Alphonsus "Phonsie" Cullinan is an Irish Roman Catholic prelate who has served as Bishop of Waterford and Lismore since 2015.
The World Meeting of Families 2018 was the ninth World Meeting of Families and took place in Dublin, Ireland between 21 and 26 August 2018. The event began with an Opening Ceremony that occurred in each of Ireland's Dioceses. This was followed by a three-day Pastoral Congress at the RDS. The Meeting culminated in Pope Francis's visit to Ireland.
