On a recent visit to New York City, there it was, a small plot and tombstone in Little Italy in a graveyard behind the original Saint Patrick’s Cathedral (“Old St. Pat’s”):

The final resting place of John Curry.

He was one of the fifteen who witnessed the famous and fully Church-sanctioned apparition at Knock in County Mayo, Ireland on August 21 in 1879.

Few realize that his body was brought to Manhattan (from Queens) by Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York on May 13 in 2017. (We reported on it at the time.) Few also realize that the first St. Patrick’s Cathedral was in Lower Manhattan–not midtown.

Few also realize the richness of the catacombs beneath that part of the city. (More on that soon.) To pray alongside the grave is a powerful exercise.

John Curry was a native of Knock, who was just five years old when he, along with fourteen others, witnessed the miraculous phenomenon at the gable wall of Knock Parish Church. As a young man, he went to New York where he remained until his death in 1943. He lived out his final years with the Little Sisters of the Poor and was buried in an unmarked grave at Pine Lawn Cemetery, Long Island.

The Irish Bishops’ Conference notes:

“As a witness, John Curry is especially interesting as he was the youngest of the group, aged just five years when the Apparition occurred in 1879. His testimony was given during the Commission of Enquiry which was held in October that year. Due to his height, it was stated that during the Apparition he was held on the shoulders of his cousin, Patrick Hill so that he could see the figures. He described, in an innocent and child-like manner, the ‘bright lights’, and the beautiful images of the Blessed Virgin and St Joseph. One can imagine the impact that an event such as this would have on a young child.

“Later, as a young man he, like many others at the time, immigrated to America in search of work. He worked for many years as a labourer and later as an attendant in the City Hospital on Welfare Island, New York. In later life, when his health began to fail he went to live with the Little Sisters of the Poor on Long Island. He was described as a quiet, unassuming man who served Mass every day for the Sisters. It was not until shortly before the second Commission of Enquiry in 1936 that it became known to them that he was one of the witnesses to the Apparition at Knock.

“In a letter to Father Dan Corcoran, Curate of Knock Parish in 1936, he wrote, ‘The night of 21 August 1879, I remember it as well as I do last night’, and goes on to describe in detail the Apparition as he witnessed it.

“At the second Commission of Enquiry [spelling is Irish style], John Curry was interviewed by a special tribunal which was established in New York. During the lengthy interview, he described seeing Our Lady, St Joseph and St John the Evangelist, along with a Lamb and Cross on an altar with Angels: ‘It appeared to me that they [the figures] were alive, but they didn’t speak. One of the women there, Bridget Trench, kissed the Blessed Virgin’s feet and tried to put her arms around the feet but there was nothing there but the picture. I saw her do that. The figures were life-size and I will remember them till I go to my grave.’

“He was remembered fondly by those at the home as a man of strong faith, serving Mass every day without fail until shortly before his death. When asked in later years about the Apparition he would tell his story and his memories of growing up in Knock and of serving Mass for Archdeacon Cavanagh whom he remembered well. He told the Sisters that the Blessed Mother never refused him anything that he asked for. His words may well be remembered on 13 May at Old St. Patrick’s, a perfectly providential location as the historic centre of the Irish where he will be laid to rest.”

[resources: The Final Hour]