Thirteen men have begun their academic programme as seminarians for Irish Catholic dioceses.
The new entries bring the total number of seminarians studying for the priesthood for Irish dioceses to 77.
Chair of the Bishops' Council for Vocations, Bishop Alphonsus Cullinan, said that he was thankful for the men, and it was "really heartening" to welcome them into the church in this way.
"In recent years, there has been a small but steady number of men beginning their studies for priesthood for Irish dioceses.
"While this is encouraging, in no way should this trend make us complacent. We need more priests, and we must continue to do what we can to promote priestly vocations in families and in our parishes.
"Without the priest there is no Eucharist, and without the Eucharist there is no Church.
"We need to pray, but not only to offer a few quick prayers of the faithful, rather to beg the Lord of the Harvest to send us more priests. Then we need to create spaces where young men can explore their vocation in life by first becoming disciples," he added.
"They need formation and companionship - a nurturing place where they can belong and grow.
"From discipleship particular vocations will emerge. We also need to put resources in place to continually get the message out about the attractiveness of priesthood.
"I have no doubt that the numbers going forward will grow, and I am optimistic for the future of priesthood in Ireland," Bishop Cullinan said.
National Diocesan Vocations Coordinator, Father Willie Purcell said that the men begin their vocational journey by entering the propaedeutic year.
He added that the 13 new seminarians are currently undertaking studies at the Redemptoris Mater Seminary in Dundalk, Co Louth, Pontifical Irish College, Rome, Spain's Royal English College Valladolid and Royal Scots College Salamanca, as well as the International Seminary of Ars in France.
