Irish eyes weeping as sun-gazing pilgrims suffer retina damage

An Irish eye surgeon has said an "unprecedented" rise in the number of cases of an eye condition could be directly related to people staring at the sun at a holy shrine. Thousands of people have been travelling to the County Mayo pilgrimage shrine of Knock after hearing that the Virgin Mary would appear there. Some claimed to have seen the sun "dancing in the sky".

Dr Eamonn O'Donoghue, a consultant ophthalmologist surgeon said that the hospital would usually see one case of solar retinopathy "at most" per year. However, there have been five such cases so far this year, all of them linked to events at Knock.

Dr O'Donoghue, who is based at University Hospital, Galway, said people needed to be warned of the condition as it was "potentially very, very dangerous" and could cause long-term damage to the most vulnerable part of the eye.



"These people came in because they have had a significant reduction in their vision and they could very well be a smaller representative sample," Dr O'Donoghue said.

He added that two of those who had presented to the hospital had also reported that other members of their families had suffered visual damage. "It can potentially lead to blindness with prolonged exposure," Dr O'Donoghue said.

While he was unaware how the events were organised, he said, it would be "profoundly irresponsible" for anyone to encourage people to stare at the sun.