Praying for a triumvirate of Irish blessings in Rome

In a city awash with pilgrims, and more places of prayer than you could shake a stick at, it was hardly surprising to find so many Irish in Rome this weekend.

Nor was there any surprise to find that most of those who travelled over were there to cheer on the Irish rugby team and not the new pontiff.

To be fair, none could have predicted the potential triumvirate of celebrations if we (a) beat the Italians (b) get to pray in the company of Pope Francis and (c) survive both occasions to celebrate the day of our national saint. That would be a hat-trick by anyone’s standards.