When the Pope came to Ireland
For 48 hours in 1979, Ireland came to a standstill to greet Pope John Paul II. Thirty years on, BBC Radio Ulster is marking the first and last visit of a reigning Pope to
these shores with a special hour-long programme of memories and tales from the
biggest gathering Ireland has ever witnessed. "When The Pope Came To Ireland", on BBC Radio Ulster on Sunday, August 30 at 1.05pm, hears from some of the 1.25 million people who witnessed John Paul II's sermon at Phoenix Park in Dublin. There are also
contributions from those who were amongst the hundreds of thousands of people who
listened to his calls for peace in Drogheda and those who travelled to Galway and
Knock.
Father Brian D'Arcy, one of those involved behind the scenes during the visit, says of
the event: "I'll never forget the first moment the Pope came onto our soil. There was a
million people in the one place [Phoenix Park]. Sure you'd think the country would
tip up, if you got that! And out of a crystal blue sky came an Aer Lingus green plane. A
number of journalists had flown out to Rome to be on the plane back with the Pope. Many
of them spoke to me about that, for them it was a colossal moment. Out of the plane they could see this entire population of the city, in green fields in the Phoenix Park. People often ask me to look back to the visit. I still have a wonderful sense of joy and pride, and happy memories of that first day. That'll never leave me. But I also see that it was the end of the traditional famous dominant church. It was the high point of the Catholic Church in Ireland. Most people would say that it's now gone, but that was a good funeral rite, that was a good wake."
"When The Pope Came To Ireland" can be heard on BBC Radio Ulster this Sunday,
at 1.05pm. 92-95FM & DAB digital radio, digital TV and online.
Comment number 1.
At 22:40 29th Aug 2009, dennisjunior1 wrote:William:
Thanks for the excellent story on Sunday, about the visit of the Pope John Paul II in 1979....
=Dennis Junior=
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Comment number 2.
At 05:35 31st Aug 2009, Suzaned wrote:This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.
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Comment number 3.
At 16:47 31st Aug 2009, mccamley wrote:Not sure you can call it the "first and last visit". First and only perhaps.
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Comment number 4.
At 21:42 31st Aug 2009, Will_Crawley wrote:Tut McCamley, you were in a very particular mood when you parsed the difference between 'last' and 'only'. I think either would do in this case. This visit was the first and only visit of a reigning pope to Ireland; it was also the first (time) and last (time) -- to date -- of a reigning pope. I stand my ground!
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Comment number 5.
At 00:03 1st Sep 2009, mccamleyc wrote:Reminds me of those very annoying announcments in Connolly Station - "this is the last and final call for the 17.15 to Longford".
Will Brian D'Arcy just go away, please?
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Comment number 6.
At 12:52 1st Sep 2009, Smithborough wrote:I visited Krakow last month. In the Planty, the park surrounding the Old Town, there is a big exhibit about the travels (or "pilgrimages" as it terms them) of John Paul II; who was originally from that area of Poland. The exhibit had maps and photographs of nearly all of JP2's visits throughout the world.
I was very surprised to find that his Irish trip barely got a mention. This trip seemed at the time to be hugely important to Irish catholicism, yet in the overall scheme of the Pope's travels it featured as a mere footnote while en route to the US (I think).
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Comment number 7.
At 13:34 1st Sep 2009, mccamley wrote:The Irish bishops nearly killed the poor man with a ridiculous programme of events over two and a half days - that's why he never came back. They had him in Dublin, Drogheda, Galway, Knock, Limerick, Clonmacnoise, Maynooth and lots of other little fillers as well.
Please God Pope Benedict may make a visit soon.
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Comment number 8.
At 17:59 9th Sep 2009, petermorrow wrote:When the Pope came to Ireland
And the sequel?
When moderation came to Will and Testament.
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Comment number 9.
At 11:39 10th Sep 2009, gveale wrote:Pre-moderation. Not moderation.
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Comment number 10.
At 11:55 10th Sep 2009, romejellybean wrote:MCC
Those Irish Bishops! They had the Pope running here, running there. He never got a minutes break. He suffered chronic fatigue and burn out. He got pains in his chest, he nearly suffered a heart attack. He was seconds away from collapsing and dying, here in Ireland.
"Please God Pope Benedict will visit soon."
Lol!!! I sure hope so.
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Comment number 11.
At 14:31 10th Sep 2009, gveale wrote:Nice to see the entire Irish Army came to greet him.
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Comment number 12.
At 14:33 10th Sep 2009, gveale wrote:Is that an Orange flag in the background?
If so, the whole Drumcree dispute could have been resolved by marching the Irish Army through Portadown.
I'm sure no-one would have minded.
GV
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Comment number 13.
At 17:28 10th Sep 2009, petermorrow wrote:Graham #9
"Pre-moderation. Not moderation."
You're quite right of course, it's pre-moderation. And you know, that got me thinking; maybe this little problem we have is kinda eschatological, so....
are you
Pre-Moderationalist
Post-Moderationalist
or
Amoderationalist?
Which ever you are though, here's hoping we're not on moderation for a millennium.
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Comment number 14.
At 03:23 11th Sep 2009, John Wright wrote:Im retro-moderationist, like it was before. There was no problem that needed solved that was on MY radar.
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