3 Days in September: When the Pope came to Ireland.
KENNY, Mary (Introduction).
Dublin: Liberties Press, 2004. 239 pages. Illustrated. Hardback.
The Pope’s visit to Ireland in September 1979 attracted more excitement and interest than any concert or sporting event before or since. More than a million people turned out to greet John Paul at Phoenix Park, in the largest gathering in Europe in modern times. Tens of thousands of young people heard him say the famous words ‘Young people of Ireland I love you’ at the Youth Mass in Galway, and large crowds gathered in Clonmacnoise, Knock, Drogheda and Limerick. In fact, the time the Pope spent in Ireland in 1979 could be said to mark a high point in the history of the Catholic Church in Ireland.
In 3 Days in September: When the Pope Came to Ireland, leading figures from the worlds of politics, religion, journalism and the arts offer their recollections of -and reflections on - the papal visit. Many of those who were there, including the pilot who flew the papal jet, the architect of the papal cross, and the young girl who handed the Pope flowers on his arrival, offer their impressions of those unforgettable three days.