Templemore Miracles: Jimmy Walsh, Ceasefires and Moving Statues

In the aftermath of the 1916 Rising, the Templemore miracles or 'bleeding statues' occurred, with 16-year-old farm labourer Jimmy Walsh claiming to experience Marian apparitions and religious statues moving and bleeding. This led to an influx of thousands of pilgrims, disrupting the war efforts. The IRA intervened, interrogated Walsh, and planned to deter further pilgrimages, resulting in Walsh leaving Ireland and the war resuming with even greater ferocity.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 160 pages
Publication date: 06 November 2019
Publisher: The History Press Ltd

In the aftermath of the 1916 Rising, the ensuing guerrilla war reached its peak in August 1920, in the garrison town of Templemore, when a series of extraordinary events occurred.
16-year-old farm labourer Jimmy Walsh claimed that he was experiencing Marian apparitions, and that religious statues owned by him were moving and bleeding. Miraculous cures were claimed, and the religious fervour that gripped Ireland led to an influx of thousands of pilgrims. The phenomenon of the 'Templemore miracles' or 'bleeding statues' lasted for several weeks, and an informal ceasefire arose while the rebels, the police, the military, and the civilian population struggled to comprehend the surreal situation. With the logistics of conducting the war disrupted by the flood of pilgrims, the IRA stepped in. They interrogated Walsh and, with the direct involvement of Michael Collins, planned to deter further pilgrimages to Templemore. In due course, Walsh had left Ireland, never to return, and the war resumed with an even greater degree of ferocity.

Here, John Reynolds charts the bizarre goings-on that intersected the spiritual, social, and martial fixations of early twentieth-century Ireland, based around a small town and a boy with visions.

Weight: 190g
Dimension: 196 x 130 x 10 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780750990592