It remains to be seen whether there will be an influx of baby Francis-es filling maternity wards in about 9 months’ time. But one thing's for sure, the last time a pope visited Ireland, it started somewhat of a trend. In 1980, 1 in 10 boys born in Ireland were named John Paul. Ray D'Arcy spoke to John Paul Tobin, John Paul McCauley and Karol Maria Ryan (Pope John Paul's birth name was Karol Wojtyla) in studio about growing up with a pretty lofty name, ahead of the documentary, The John Pauls, which airs tonight on RTÉ 1 at 9.35pm.
We have three JPs in studio today! (Kind of…) Ray will chat to two JPs and a
Karol Maria – they were all named after John Paul 11 after his visit to Ireland in 1979. #TheJohnPauls is on @RTEOne at 9.35pm tn! 📺📺📺 #popeinireland https://t.co/MweiaIRYhr— Ray D'Arcy Radio (@RadioRayRTE) September 10, 2018
Listen back to the full interview here.