Let’s go back to Ireland in July 1985, to the quiet village of Ballinspittle in County Cork, where reports of a roadside statue of the Virgin Mary swaying gently before the eyes of stunned onlookers sparked a national sensation. What began as a local curiosity quickly exploded into a nationwide phenomenon, as similar apparitions were reported throughout Ireland that summer, drawing tens of thousands of pilgrims and dominating headlines. The media descended, cameras rolled, and the country found itself gripped by a strange blend of spiritual awe, communal frenzy, and a deep hunger for meaning at a time of unemployment, emigration and conflict in Northern Ireland.

For today's podcast, Ciara Doherty is joined by veteran religious affairs correspondent Patsy McGarry to revisit that extraordinary summer and explore what it revealed about Ireland’s psyche in the 1980s. They reflect on the powerful religious climate of the time - marked by high Mass attendance and strong deference to Church authority - and the cautious, sometimes dismissive response of the Catholic hierarchy to the Ballinspittle sightings. They also consider the deeper shifts that have taken place in the decades since: the collapse in trust following clerical abuse scandals, the declining influence of Church leadership, and the emergence of a more secular, questioning Irish identity.

As they look back on Ballinspittle and forward to Ireland today, they ask: are we still a nation of faith, or have we truly become a secular country?

Patsy McGarry is the author of Well, Holy God: My Life as an Irish, Catholic, Agnostic Correspondent, a memoir tracing his decades-long career reporting on religion, doubt, and the changing soul of Ireland. It's published by Irish Academic Press.

📧 Email the show at newstalkdaily@newstalk.com