On This Day in Dublin: September 29 1979 Pope John Paul II says Mass in Phoenix Park

On this Day in Dublin, 29 September 1979, Pope John Paul II arrived from Rome into Dublin Airport for a three day visit to Ireland.

After being greeted by then President Patrick Hillary, the Pope flew by helicopter to the Phoenix Park where he said Mass for 1,250,000 people, one third of the population of the country.

Following a trip to Drogheda, his final engagement that day was a meeting with journalists at the Dominican Convent in Cabra.

The journalists from the international media broke into a spontaneous rendition of ‘For he’s a jolly good fellow’ when the Pope arrived.

Pope John Paul spent the night at the nearby Apostolic Nunciature on the Navan Road in Cabra.