GRANARD is the second-largest town in County Longford, in the northwest of the Irish midlands.
KNOCK, in Irish “Cnoc,” meaning hill, is a village in the west of Ireland. Knock is mostly known for the Knock Shrine, a Roman Catholic pilgrimage site where locals claimed to have seen an apparition of the Virgin Mary, Saint Joseph, and Saint John the Evangelist in 1879.
MARIAN APPARITIONS are reported appearances of the Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus, evaluated and approved by the Catholic Church.
OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE is a reported Marian apparition in Mexico City, 1531. It is one of the rare depictions of Mary pregnant. The site of the apparition is the most-visited Catholic shrine in the world and the Virgin Guadalupe is the patron saint of Mexico.
STEPHEN’S DAY is Saint Stephen’s Day in the Christian Church, the day after Christmas – 26th of December, known as Boxing Day in the UK. It is a public holiday in the Republic of Ireland.
STONE is a unit of weight commonly used in Ireland and the UK. 20 stone is the equivalent of 280 pounds!
THE 8TH Amendment to the Irish Consitution was an amendment made by referendum in 1983, recognizing “the equal right to life of the mother and the unborn.”
1983 was the year the 8th amendment was inserted into the constitution, one year before the death of Ann Lovett.
2018 was the year the 8th amendment was repealed in Ireland, ultimately allowing legislation for legal abortion in the Republic of Ireland.