'Meeting the pope was the highlight of my life'

Ann Galligan, who lives in Cavan, had the pleasure of meeting the pope in April 2023, just one day before Holy Thursday.

The 84-year-old felt “sad” when she heard of the passing of Pope Francis.

“Tears came to my eyes, I couldn’t believe it,” she said.

“The warmth in his face” and “his wonderful smile” is what she will remember him by. She had the pleasure of witnessing both of these attributes first-hand in Rome on April 5, 2023, when Pope Francis shook her hand.

“Meeting the pope was the highlight of my life and I still feel very close to him.”

Ann was spending time in Austria with her daughter Josephine when The Anglo-Celt called.

Looking out over the Alps, she recalled the day she met the pope.

“It was the most wonderful experience of my life,” Ann says.

“I have been very close to him since.”

That day the mother of 13 hadn't expected to get close to him, let alone shake his hand.

“He went all around the congregation first and was very close to everybody with a happy smile on his face.”

“He went around everybody in the procession and shook hands with all he could.”

“It was bitter cold,” she recalled of the Rome weather at the time.

Finally, the the pope came to her.

“What a privilege, the feeling, the closeness.”

Growing up just outside London, Ann moved to Cavan after she married her husband, the late Eddie Galligan who was from Lisreagh.

Ann said she has “always had respect for the pope.”

“As far as we were concerned he was next to God,” she explained.

“Who else could cope with the whole world’s worries and troubles and everything? I think he was doing a wonderful job.

“He made everybody feel he was their friend and he was close to people.”