The Marian Year of 1954 was a high point for Marian devotion in Ireland as elsewhere in the Catholic world. This devotion was reflected in the construction of replicas of the Lourdes Grotto in many Irish parishes.The parish of Kilmore was no exception. Inspired by the zeal and energy of the parish clergy, particularly that of the curate Father Paul Johnson, a dedicated band of parishioners constructed the Grotto at St. Patrick's Church Stonebridge.Pope Pius XII announced the Marian Year in an Encyclical, Fulgens Corona: Radiant Crown. Issued on 8 September 1953, to mark the centenary of the proclamation by Pope Pius IX of the Dogma Of the Immaculate Conception, the encyclical addressed the bishops of the Church as follows:We invite each and every one of you, Venerable Brethren, by reason of the office you exercise, to exhort the clergy and people committed to you to celebrate the Marian Year which We proclaim to be held the whole world over from the month of December next until the same month of the following year - just a century having elapsed since the Virgin Mother of God, amid the applause of the entire Christian people, shone with a new gem, when as we have said, Our predecessor of immortal memory solemnly decreed and defined that she was free from all stain of original sin...To facilitate matters and make the project more successful, We desire that in each diocese there be held for this purpose appropriate sermons and discourses, by means of which this tenet of Christian doctrine be more clearly explained: so that the Faith of the people may be increased and their devotion to the Virgin Mother of God become daily more ardent...The encyclical also indicates how the faithful might follow this exhortation to increased devotion. It emphasises the important role which sanctuaries, altars, chapels and shrines where the sacred image of the Blessed Virgin Mary is venerated, can and should play.