Documentary shines light on historic transatlantic flight

KNOCK: A Pilgrimage of Faith is a new, half hour documentary which takes a look back at a busy summer at Knock Shrine, with one particular highlight being a visit from the Archbishop of New York, Cardinal Timothy Dolan.

In the historic visit, Cardinal Dolan flew with 150 pilgrims to celebrate the national novena. The trip marked the first Aer Lingus flight from New York to Knock and was a widely anticipated affair.

Knock Shrine remains one of Ireland's biggest tourist destinations, attracting around 1.5 million people each year.

The trip took place in August and the passengers were greeted at the airport by both the Irish public and politicians, among them An Taoiseach, Enda Kenny, who noted: “It has taken 35 years for a jet to come from America here to Knock. No reason why that should have happened. But we are grateful to Fr. Gibbons in Knock, to Knock airport and the Irish Diocese of New York for putting this together.”

Fresh off the plane in Knock airport, Cardinal Dolan told Irish TV: “I know it might be a cliché, but any time I come to Ireland I feel at home.”

Aer Lingus chief executive, Stephen Kavanagh, was also very enthusiastic about what the flight meant for the airline. “It's a very positive day for us. It really recognises the scale of our transatlantic operations. We now have a dozen aircraft in service so we're flexible in the type of opportunities we can follow through on. And Knock is testament to the size and scale of Aer Lingus.”

Knock: A Pilgrimage of Faith airs Sunday, November 29, at 8.30 p.m. on Irish TV, and can be viewed on the Irish TV channel on Sky channel 191, all free to air boxes, Freesat 400, Eircom’s eVision 191 and online at www.irishtv.ie.