Ballyhaunis Blog

The press seem to keep giving that deluded fraud - Joe Coleman free publicity - and they really give him an easy ride - no hard questions or ridicule.
He is the man whose predictions of an “apparition” in Knock of the Virgin Mary resulted in thousands of people turning up (twice). People claimed afterwards to have seen the sun “dancing” - but not a lot else. Video “evidence” on Youtube is nothing more than sun glare and clouds.
In today’s Irish Times there was an article by PATSY McGARRY “Religious Affairs Correspondent” about Joe Coleman .

If we are to believe Joe Coleman - he is a man with a wife and 4 kids who lives on Invalidity Benefit. He says he doesn’t charge anything for his “healing sessions” - yet he can afford a holiday to Egypt 4 years ago (where he says he saw Jesus by the way!) and trips to Medjugorje.
There are posts on boards.ie by supporters/friends of Joe Coleman who admit he charges €60 for a healing session. (You get an hour) . These posts were as recent as June and July 2009.
One person said he charged €150 for 3 people at a time (nice of him to give bit of a discount!).
He’s been running his so called” clinic” since 2004 and according to a supporter on Boards.ie
“you have to go to him, usually. or come and collect him and will go to a house if there is a few people to see him 4-5. He does not drive himself. i think he is very good. Some times he is busy , and you would have to wait a few days , or more to see him.”

If he was doing - as little as 20 “readings” a week at sixty euro a go - that’s €1200 a week or about sixty grand a year. On top of the Invalidity - no wonder he can afford holidays in Egypt!

It must be all Ok though - because he says he has 2 (not 1) signed certificates for attending a spiritual healing course ( signed by a Rev Chala Saleda). You try looking for Chala Saleda on Google - you won’t find much .

Joe Coleman is also quoted in the Irish Times as saying he has “very many spirit guides – Indian, Buddhist, St Joseph, St Martin, Mother Teresa, Pope John Paul II, who are always in contact before an apparition”.
This man sounds a bit mixed up to me - but he is clever enough to have all the options covered for all types of believers / crackpots
He also said in the article that it was “not a Catholic religion thing. It is about the spirit. We come from the spirit and go home to the spirit”

He also apparently does Tarot Card Readings - which is definitely forbidden by the Catholic Church and probably most Christian churches

He was also quoted in 2007 as saying “The lost city of Atlantis will rise in 2012″. I wonder who told him that ? Bhudda, Our Lady or Mother Teresa?

He will probably be predicting all sorts of things in the next few months - the horrible thing is that people will take notice of him and the press and RTE seem to just print his ramblings as if they are facts.

Read more about Joe Coleman Here

and more here

Would you believe this man? This is Keith Henderson one of the two men who claim to have had visions of the Virgin Mary in Knock . Keith Henderson is a sidekick of Joe Coleman who is also pictured below. I know what I’d think if this man told me he was seeing things…..he probably needs medical help.

Pictures taken from http://www.irishtimes.com/indepth/slideshows/knock-apparition-virgin-mary/

where you can see more of the crazy activity at knock on 31st October 2009.
Nothing really happened apart from a few thousand crazy people running around and looking at the sun.
I looked at the sun for no more than 2 seconds that day near Ballyhaunis - and I could see circles ringed in blue/green for minutes afterwards. It was no miracle - just my eyes being nearly blinded by looking at the bloody sun.

Read an eye witness report from Knock here http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2009/1102/1224257902496.html

Great quote in there from some young girl when they thought something was happening outside “She’s outside. F*** ya! We shudda stayed outside- ”

It’s all great for the tourist industry in Knock though. Or is it ?
The Church are probably getting worried - maybe all this rubbish about visions and apparitions will make people think that maybe the original apparitions might have been just as silly as these new ones.

This is the other half of the comedy duo - Joe Coleman shedding a tear in Knock on Saturday.

If you heard Joe Coleman talking on the Joe Duffy show on RTE - you wouldn’t think there was much in the way of holiness about him. He is an arrogant , lying, welfare fiddling, offensive, rude, ignorant man - and Joe Duffy hardly even challenged him.

Another non event today at Knock apparently. Expecting an apparition promised by a self proclaimed “visionary” - thousands of people turned up in Knock - many in camper vans and transit vans .
According to reports on the local radio station today - the main basilica was full with people and the doors were closed to prevent overcrowding. Joe Coleman and a couple of “followers” started off praying the Rosary around 2.30. At around 3.20 the reporter said he heard aloud noise (like thunder) - and everyone ran outside - some climbing over seats to get out. He said it was dangerous behaviour and it was lucky no one was hurt. Joe Coleman stayed inside while the people wer looking at the sun (again). The reporter said there were some “strange activities ” in the sky - cloud formations and sun . People were clapping and saying the sun was dancing (again) . Later this Joe Conman came out and the crowd of people followed him all round Knock by the sound of things - but then he just disappeared and the reporter said that people started to leave .
I was driving in Ballyhaunis at around 4pm to 4.30pm and the roads were busy with traffic coming from Knock. Plenty of transit vans .
No doubt we will hear some stories from Joe about messages from Mary in the coming days.

This is a video of what really happened in Knock on October 11th. Apparition , Sun Dancing , Visions ? Nothing happened. Expect more of the same today.

Nothing Happened

Great news for the local hotels and B&Bs - not a vacancy within 30 miles of Knock tonight.
I wonder if Joseph Coleman has any relatives in the B&B trade?
The stalls in Knock selling cheap “made in China” tat will do a roaring trade. Expect a few fireworks too .

Another crazy prediction by Joe Coleman that the Virgin Mary will show up in Knock on Halloween. What a day to choose? This story is going all over the world and making a laughing stock of Ireland.
This is a man who has previously predicted that the Lost city of Atlantis will rise in 2012.!
He trys to make out he is humble - but it sems he is more than media savvy and is used to getting publicity in the media - he even once had his own radio show in 2007 on Dublin’s 96FM. See Here

He also seems to have a website to do with some more alleged visions of the Virgin Mary in Donegal. There is a testimonial section on the site - but there is only one testimonial on it from a 10 year old boy ! Maybe we should give him a call on his mobile to see what else he has in store for us all.
Claiming to see the Virgin Mary is bad enough - but he makes it even worse by saying she turns into Padre Pio as well ! What the hell is going on there?

If someone stood up in O’Connell Street Dublin or in Ballyhaunis and say they’d seen the Virgin Mary - people would ignore them and think they were either drunk or crazy . But he is not being ignored. Why is that? . Maybe this article is making it worse - but the reports in the papers are just being too nice to him.

At least the Catholic church has made a statement about it now - Archbishop Michael Neary issued a statment which included lines like “It is not healthy, does not give glory to God and certainly is not good witness to the faith to be looking for extraordinary phenomena. For this reason such events are to be regretted rather than encouraged”
He also said - “Unfortunately, recent events at the shrine obscure this essential message - they risk misleading God’s people and undermining faith.”

The supposed picture evidence on YouTube mentioned by Joe Coleman is a joke - it is just badly taken pictures of the sun with glare.
On October 31st Knock will probably be busy - there will no doubt be plenty of Travellers (previously known as Gypsys or Tinkers) - who will flock to Knock. It’s a pity they don’t pay more attention to the teachings of Christ when they are fighting each other at weddings and funerals .

Maybe if people are so sure she will appear - they should have Have a Bet Here (The odds are pretty small - so someone must be betting on it!)

As someone said on Politics.ie “Now, do you think the mother of Jesus was going to appear in front of a bunch of assorted gobshytes, tinkers - with their tits and arses hanging out”

Why is anyone paying attention to this man? I blame RTE - apparently he first appeared on “the Afternoon Show ” - talking about this - why did they ask him to come on?

I see some other bloggers are a bit mad about Joe Coleman too.