Selling the Pope

Remembered as a high water mark of Irish Catholicism, the Papal Mass in Dublin’s Phoenix Park on September 29, 1979 was the biggest public event ever staged in this country. Faced with the challenge of punishing deadlines, security threats and a meagre budget by today’s standards, the organisers delivered what became an indelible cultural memory to a live audience of more than a million people. As Ireland prepares for the visit of Pope Francis later this month, Francesca Comyn looks back at the epic preparations of 39 years ago

Carpenters at work on the Papal platform in August 1979 Pic: Pat Maxwell