Number of Irish People Booking Trips to Rome Soars 100% in Wake of Pope Francis Passing

The number of Irish people booking trips to Rome has soared by 100% in the past 24 hours as mourners plan their pilgrimage to the Eternal City to pay their respects to Pope Francis who passed away on Monday morning.

Online travel agent On the Beach has said it saw an unprecedented rise in bookings to Rome on Tuesday, just 24 hours after the ‘People’s Pope’ passed away, aged 88. 

Mourners from around the world have already been queueing to visit St Peter’s Square in Vatican City with the pontiff’s death prompting an outpouring of grief from Catholics across the globe.

Now thousands of Irish Catholics are set to make the journey across Europe to witness the historic funeral and Conclave process, with On the Beach predicting a further increase in bookings. 

Zoe Harris, chief customer officer at On the Beach said: “The Pope’s passing prompted an outpouring of grief around the world and what followed was a flurry of bookings to Rome. 

“With the Pope’s burial due on Saturday and the historic process of the conclave beginning in two weeks’ time, we know that people will want to be in the heart of Italy for this historic moment.

“We’re expecting bookings to rise  further over the next 24 hours following Tuesday’s confirmation of dates of service.”

On Tuesday, the Vatican confirmed Pope Francis’s funeral will take place outdoors in front of St Peter’s Basilica on Saturday at 10am local time.

For those travelling to Rome, St. Peter’s Square will remain open, but there will be large crowds and media in the piazza for the duration of the Conclave process. 

The historic process of the conclave, where cardinals will gather in the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican to choose who will be the next pope, will not begin for at least two weeks.  

For those wanting to see the smoke from the chapel, it will be seen twice daily, around noon after the first two ballots and again at 4-5 pm after the last round of voting.