Part 6 - Irish Franciscan Pilgrims with Pope Pius XII

Black and white print

An image of a large group of Irish pilgrims at an audience with Pope Pius XII (1876-1958) at Castel Gandolfo just outside Rome on 20 September 1953. The pilgrims are members of the Third Order of St. Francis, a religious fraternity of lay men and women attached to the Franciscan Friary on Merchants’ Quay in Dublin. Several Franciscan friars (Order of Friars Minor) can be seen in the image. The individual (with the spectacles) immediately to the right of Pius XII is William MacNeely (1889-1963), the Bishop of Raphoe from 1923 until 1963.