Rose of Tralee viewers were left in stitches at the London Rose’s story of her sister meeting Pope Francis in Knock. The second night of the beauty pageant kicked off on Tuesday night, with hosts Dáithí Ó Sé and Kathryn Thomas interviewing the second cohort of Roses before crowning the overall winner. The Pope visited Ireland in 2018 for the World Meeting of Families, arriving in Knock Airport before visiting the Knock Shrine — with London Rose Glenna Mannion revealing that her family were part of the welcoming committee when the Pope arrived in Knock — with her saying that her sister Mary was going to kiss the Pope on the cheek when he arrived.
Wasn't our London Rose Glenna Mannion terrific! #roseoftralee #rte pic.twitter.com/gSNV9MdROC ‘[They were saying] “oh we’re so lucky, we’re going to be the first ones to meet the Pope when we get off the plane,”‘ Glenna explained.
‘So anyway, Mary, my sister, was there, and she’s like a kissy, huggy person...
’ with Dáithí replying ‘what a description!’ ‘So she was like “I’m gonna kiss the Pope,” and we’re like “Jesus, you can’t do that!” but she said she was gonna do it anyway even though people were telling her not to do it. So he came down the steps, he met my niece and nephew first, and then she went in for the kill. ‘Not one, but she gave him two kisses on the cheek,’ while Mary watched on red faced from the audience.
People were left in stitches by Dáithí’s reactio.