As the Aer Lingus Boeing 747 carrying Pope John Paul II to Ireland swooped low over the Phoenix Park where hundreds of thousands were already in place for the papal Mass, the cheering broke out and the first tears of joy were shed. Minutes earlier the aircraft, escorted by Air Corps planes, had crossed the Irish coast near Courtown, Co Wexford.

The Pope had arrived in a country where normal life came to a virtual standstill over the next three days and where an estimated two-thirds of the population crowded various venues to see and hear the first Roman pontiff to visit Ireland since St Patrick brought Christianity more than 1,500 years ago.

A special stamp was issued, an amnesty was granted to selected prisoners, and the Orange Order sent the Pope a letter criticising his visit on political and theological grounds.

In his first words to the Irish people when he had kissed the tarmac at Dublin airport, the 59-year-old, charismatic Polish Pope declared that he was happy to walk in the footsteps of St Patrick as the successor of St Peter. His words to the assembled dignitaries of church and State were brief compared with the nine major addresses he was to deliver in various parts of Ireland before he left for the United States just over 48 hours later.

Thanks to superb coverage by RTÉ television and radio the whole population could follow the Pope on every stage of his odyssey by helicopter from Dublin to Drogheda, back to Dublin, to Clonmacnoise, Galway, Knock, again back to Dublin and finally on to Maynooth and Limerick and the farewell at Shannon airport.

The organisation at fairly short notice was outstanding as thousands of unpaid volunteers stewarded the vast gatherings and gardaí and the Army provided security. The burly Archbishop Paul Marcinkus played his usual role of personal bodyguard.

From dawn on Saturday, September 29th, and even earlier, thousands began making their way to the Phoenix Park on foot, and by bus, train and car. By the time the red papal helicopter landed there, over one million people were estimated to be waiting for him.

They were entertained during their wait by the Garda Band, the Army No 1 Band, Our Lady's Choral Society, the Chieftains, Bernadette Greevy, Frank Patterson (who also sang during the Mass), and a choir of 6,000 drawn from parishes throughout Dublin.

Overlooking the scene was the 116-foot high steel cross painted white, erected for the occasion and left afterwards as a permanent souvenir of the visit. In front of the cross, beside the grounds of the US embassy residence, was the raised altar where more than 150 cardinals, bishops and priests concelebrated Mass with the Pope.

About 2,000 priests distributed Communion to the crowds who were arranged in corrals so that they would better see the Pope when he drove among them, standing in the special "popemobile" to give them a better view.

In his lengthy homily in his strongly accented English, the Pope duly praised the loyalty of the Irish to the Catholic faith down the centuries but warned that the church in Ireland could not "live on past glories". It now had to confront the challenges of materialism, self-indulgence, consumerism and affluence.

He called for the moral fibre of the nation to be preserved by continued devotion to the sacredness of life, the true sense of human sexuality. These were interpreted as code words for abortion, divorce and contraception.

This exciting Pope would still preach a traditional message, his Irish listeners were to find out. The Pope's address at Killineer, just north of Drogheda, was keenly awaited as it had been flagged in advance as an appeal to the IRA to give up its violence.

It was because of two of the IRA's most appalling actions a month earlier that the Pope had to cancel a planned visit to Armagh, the primatial see of the Irish Catholic Church. This change for security reasons followed the murder of Lord Louis Mountbatten and members of his family at Mullaghmore, Co Sligo, where his fishing boat was blown up, and the killing of 18 British soldiers near Warrenpoint, Co Down, by landmines on the same day, August 27th.

A crowd estimated at 250,000, many from Northern Ireland, heard the Pope appeal to the men and women of violence to end it.

"On my knees I beg of you to turn away from the paths of violence and to return to the ways of peace ... Those who resort to violence always claim that only violence brings about change. You must know there is a political, peaceful way to justice."

The appeal was not heard. Two days later, the IRA in a statement said that "force is by far the only means of removing the evil of the British presence in Ireland ... we know also that upon victory, the church would have no difficulty in recognising us".

From Drogheda, the Pope flew back to Dublin where he had little time to rest before continuing his packed schedule. The most important event that evening was his meeting with representatives of the non-Catholic churches at the Dominican convent in Cabra.

He greeted the clergymen from the Church of Ireland, the Presbyterian, Lutheran, Methodist and Moravian churches, the Society of Friends and the chief rabbi by telling them that he was tired and would have to sit down. He had planned to address them while standing and to give more time for this ecumenical occasion.

The Pope returned to the issue of Northern Ireland in urging all the churches to join in opposing violence and in finding Christian answers to the problems there. He also pledged to work for Christian unity. The 12 Presbyterian representatives had earlier handed over a document to the Papal Nuncio, Archbishop inter-church relations.

In spite of the moves towards unity by the Irish churches in recent years, the document said, "our ecumenical scene, like our political, is at a standstill, if it is not in retreat".

Before he had time to retire after what must have been an exhausting first day, the Pope also met separately the members of the Irish Cabinet, led by the Taoiseach, Jack Lynch, the members of the Diplomatic Corps and the Irish and international media assigned to cover his visit.

The Taoiseach presented him with the Government's gift, a silver statuette of St Patrick by Óisín Kelly, adorned with some of the words of the saint's breastplate prayer from which the Pope had quoted several times during the long day.

He told the diplomats that the Irish visit was the first part of a "pastoral journey" which would include the United Nations headquarters and the United States as part of his quest for world peace. He reminded the assembled media of the importance of their role in presenting the truth, and they responded by singing For he's a jolly good fellow. At dawn on Sunday, Pope John Paul was meeting 400 handicapped children in the grounds of a Cabra convent.

Next he took part in a joyful gathering of the members of the Polish community in Ireland, his "beloved fellow countrymen", at the nunciature. Then he boarded his helicopter for the flight to the monastic site of Clonmacnoise on the Shannon.

Here a crowd of about 20,000 waited to greet him. He spoke to them about the missionary tradition of the early Irish monks when they carried the faith to Europe, and of the sacred art for which the Irish monasteries were renowned.

This was a 50-minute stopover on his way to Galway where about 200,000 mainly young people had crowded into the Ballybrit racecourse for the papal Mass. The ceremonies had been organised with precision by Bishop Eamonn Casey of Galway.

It was a grey, damp day but the youthful throng had been entertained and warmed up during their wait by the "singing priest" from Dublin, Fr Michael Cleary.

The Pope seized the opportunity to declare his belief in the youth of Ireland and his love for them. They responded by bursting into song - He's got the whole world in his hands. But the Pope had a serious message as well. He warned that "the religious and moral traditions of Ireland, the very soul of Ireland, will be challenged by the temptations that spare no society in our age".

The "lure of pleasure" will be strong and "the desire to be free from external restraints may manifest itself very strongly in the sexual domain". The mass media, entertainment and literature will present a model for living "where all too often it is every man for himself". He appealed to his youthful audience: "Do not close your eyes to the moral sickness that stalks your society today and from which your youth alone will not protect you. How many young people have already warped their consciences and have substituted the true joy of life with drugs, sex, alcohol, vandalism and the empty pursuit of mere material possessions?" he asked.

But when he concluded, "Young people of Ireland, I love you," he unleashed bursts of cheering and singing that some observers saw as the high point of the visit to Ireland.

Meanwhile, an estimated 450,000 were waiting patiently 60 miles away in the gathering gloom and drizzle at the Marian shrine of Knock for their glimpse of the Pope. Some had been there from midnight and hundreds of invalids were gathered in the basilica for the great moment. There were grumbles that Bishop Casey had kept the Pope too long in Galway but now he was here and telling them that Knock was "the goal of my journey to Ireland". He prayed that prosperity would "never cause Referring to Northern Ireland again, he grieved "for those young souls who are caught up in bloody acts of vengeance and hatred".

As night closed in, the Pope had to abandon his customary tour of the crowds by popemobile, much to their disappointment. Back in Dublin that night, the Pope addressed the assembled Irish Hierarchy of Catholic Bishops. While he spoke mainly about pastoral matters he disclosed that because of the situation in Northern Ireland, he had been advised by "some people" not to visit Ireland. He referred with pleasure to the fact that the invitation to visit had come not only from the Irish hierarchy but also from the Church of Ireland and other churches but sadly he had been "unable to accept this truly ecumenical invitation by ng Armagh in Northern Ireland".

On Monday, his last day in Ireland, the Pope rose early in spite of not getting to bed until after midnight. His short helicopter flight to Maynooth was delayed by fog for 40 college chapel were entertained by the Belfast flautist, James Galway, and the New Ireland Orchestra. They were drowned out when excited seminarians began to shout "We want the Pope," and to sing He's got the whole world in his hands. The papal address intended for the clergy and students in the chapel was in the end delivered at the podium outside, surrounded by about 50,000 lay people.

They heard the Pope appealing to priests and religious to stand by their vows and deploring when "priests fail in their fidelity". There were loud cheers when the Pope urged clergy and sisters to go back to wearing distinctive clerical and religious dress.

He appealed to them not to help "the trend towards taking God off the streets by adopting secular modes of dress and behaviour". Then it was on to the last stop before his departure for the United States. An estimated 400,000 people waited for the Pope at Greenpark racecourse outside Limerick. Because of the delays caused by fog earlier, the schedule.

There was traffic chaos on many roads as thousands of vehicles tried to get to the venue from all over Munster. The delegation from Cork Corporation had to turn back at Charleville. For his last address on Irish soil, the Pope returned to the themes of family solidarity and resistance to contraception, divorce and abortion. "Your country seems in a sense to be living again the temptations of Christ," he said.

"Now is the time of testing for Ireland. This generation is once more a generation of decision." As the papal helicopter prepared to take off to fly to Shannon airport, the congregation sang with the Army band Come back to Éireann and Will ye no' come back again.

At Shannon, president Hillery told the Pope that "in the hearts of the people of Ireland, your memory will remain forever bright". Cardinal O'Fiaich said that for the past three days, Ireland had rejoiced as never before.

The Pope, before boarding his aircraft, said: "Ireland - semper fidelis, always faithful."