Did you know Pope Francis once lived in Dublin?

In January 1980, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, now Pope Francis, arrived in Ireland to study at the Jesuit Centre in the Milltown Institute in Dublin 6.

His visit came just a few months after Pope John Paul II became the first Pope to ever visit Ireland.

Then 43, the future Pope had just completed a seven-year stint as head of the Jesuit order in Argentina, during a military dictatorship.

He had landed on Irish shores to attend the Jesuit Centre in the Milltown Institute keen to immerse himself in an English language course with a local teacher.

He wasn’t alone - Jesuit students would flock from all over the world to attend the prestigious College of Philosophy.

Bergoglio mainly kept to himself during his three-month stay but certainly busied himself learning the English language while still making an impression on peers and colleagues.

In 2013, the Irish Independent reported that a 1980 edition of the Jesuit Bulletin, the Irish Province News, noted that among the "constant stream of visitors who found hospitality with us we may mention Fr Jorge Bergoglio, ex-Provincial of Argentina and Rector of our Theologate in Buenos Aires."

An old ledger also proves that he borrowed £14 from the bursar to buy tapes to aid his studies.

Fr Conall O'Cuinn SJ, a former rector of the Milltown community of Jesuits in Ireland, was one of the first to discover the Pope had once stayed among them.

"When we found out he had stayed here with us, we were very excited," he told the Irish Independent in 2013.

"To learn we had the first Jesuit pope was a wonderful surprise for all of us, but to know that he ate in the same dining hall where we eat our meals and slept within these walls makes it all the more special."

Rev Fergus O'Donoghue SJ added: "What is likely is that his room would have had wonderful views over the city or the Dublin Mountains, which he might have found inspiring being a man who loves nature.

"He was on a sabbatical when he came to Ireland so it was an ideal place for him.

"He had left Argentina after a traumatic time and would have been recovering from that. There are long walks right through the grounds of Gonzaga College and Milltown Park which he would have enjoyed.

"Milltown was a community in transition at the time. It had been built as a house for young Jesuits to study in and there would have been a lot of lay students, men and women, coming and going, studying theology. He would have appreciated that the lifestyle was very simple."

Later, in 2018 ahead of Pope Francis' visit to Ireland, Fr Michael O'Sullivan told BBC he recalled meeting Fr Bergoglio in Dublin.

"I noticed him sitting on his own at a table," Fr O'Sullivan said.

"We couldn't have a great conversation with his English and my Spanish at the time.

"If I had known he was going to become Pope, I would have made more of an effort!"

Pope Francis eventually returned to Ireland in August 2018 for an official papal visit, taking part in the World Meeting of Families in Dublin's Phoenix Park.

* Originally published in May 2018, updated in February 2025.