John Curry (centre) with Patrick Hill, another of the Knock visionaries and one of their friends in New York

Knock visionary to be reburied this week in New York

PILGRIMS will depart Mayo for New York tomorrow (Monday) on a very unusual mission - the reburial of one of the visionaries to the Knock Apparition in 1879.

Later this week, the remains of John Curry, the youngest of the Knock visionaries, will be reinterred from a cemetery in Long Island and moved to St. Patrick's Old Cathedral in Manhattan.

John Curry was five years old in 1879. He emigrated to the States in 1897 and lived a very devout life up to his death in 1943 attending Mass daily.

Acting on comments made to him by the parish priest of Knock,. Fr. Richard Gibbons, that John Curry's grave was seldom visited, New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan decided that St. Patrick's Old Cathedral would be a more fitting burial place.

Fr. Gibbons is leading this week's pilgrimage which is scheduled to depart Ireland West Airport Knock at lunchtime tomorrow.

Members of the Garda Band are travelling with the pilgrimage group to perform at the reburial ceremony.