The Irish sisters who saw the Virgin Mary in the 1980s

Two sisters from County Cork claimed to have seen multiple apparitions of the Virgin Mary during the 1980s, drawing hundreds of people to a shrine in County Wexford in 1988.

Sally-Ann and Judy Considine, who were members of a Cork-based rosary group, claimed they first saw an apparition of the Virgin Mary on July 4, 1987, and again on February 14 the following year.

The Considine sisters claimed to have received apparitions at Inchigeelagh and Mayfield in Cork in addition to two apparitions at the Shrine of Our Lady of Good Counsel in Grantstown, County Wexford.

On September 5, 1988, the girls traveled to Grantstown and claimed to have received another apparition.

Watched by hundreds of people who had traveled to Grantstown to witness the event, the girls reportedly "moved in unison and seemed to go in ecstasy", according to an RTÉ News report at the time.

They later relayed to the crowd of onlookers what the Virgin Mary had told them, stating that they were being taught "the way of the Father". They also told the crowd that another apparition would take place at the shrine on September 18.

Fellow members of their rosary group handed out copies of the messages the girls claimed to have received at earlier apparitions, while organizers said the evening sun breaking through the clouds was a sign confirming the apparition had taken place.

The reported apparitions drew criticism from Bishop Brendan Comiskey of Ferns and Bishop Michael Murphy of Cork and Ross, who spoke out against events celebrating the apparitions, warning that such events can damage people's faith.

Others claimed that the girls were being used by members of their religious group.

However, the two sisters were adamant that they had seen the apparitions.

"We definitely see Our Lady, we believe the messages are coming from Our Lady and that they are being given to Our Lady from Our Lord," Sally-Ann Considine told RTÉ.

Her sister Judy added that she didn't think she was imagining the apparitions.

"I believe she is appearing to us, no I don’t think I could be imagining it no, because the goodness that we feel when we see her, no, you couldn’t imagine that."