Crowds still flock to ‘moving statue’ site at Ballinspittle, three decades on

It is 30 years since the first statue appeared to move in Ballinspittle, but it was to become a summer of such phenomena, writes Eddie Cassidy

Academics named it the ‘Ballinspittle Phenomenon’, the late bishop of Cork urged “prudence and caution” but, 30 years later, many locals who witnessed the ‘moving statue’ still have strong devotion to the woman at the centre of it all — Our Lady.

Up to 100,000 people had descended on the Co Cork village in late July and August in 1985, to witness the ‘miracle’ of the roadside statue.