A group of young Dubliners bring music, song and dance to Pope John Paul II at Castel Gandolfo.
For successive popes, Castel Gandolfo in Lazio near Rome has been a place to escape the summer heat and enjoy some peace and tranquillity. The quiet in the grounds of Castel Gandolfo was disrupted when a thousand young Irish people came to visit. The young people made their presence felt with renditions of Dublin street songs, traditional Irish airs and Polish hymns. There was also some Irish dancing.
The castle's magnificent gardens had never heard anything like it before and clearly the Vatican officials hadn't either.
The loudest cheers of the evening came on the arrival of Pope John Paul II. The young Dubliners had travelled to Italy to thank the Pope for visiting Ireland.
The pope enjoyed the performances and occasionally joined in the songs. Pope John Paul II was presented with gifts including a hurley and a sliotar. Music and fun aside, there was also the more formal ceremonial blessing of the young Irish people, with the pope saying,
God Bless Ireland.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 30 August 1980. The reporter is Colm Connolly.
