Ratoath-born priest, Canon Pat Browne, now based in London, enjoys the fact that he once "played Wembley". He did, indeed, perform at the stadium, as a warm-up act for an even bigger man of the cloth, Pope John Paul II, during the late pontiff's visit to England in 1982.
Fr Browne, currently parish priest of Pimlico in London, was based in Westminster Cathedral at that time, where he was responsible for music and liturgy, having trained as a singer.
He also sang the gospel at the Pope's Mass in Westminster Cathedral. He was then responsible for the pre-Mass song and music at the Wembley Mass which saw a 95,000 attendance.
Now, with a planned visit by the current pontiff, Benedict XVI, to London and a likely address to the Houses of Parliament, Fr Browne is again set to play a key role, in his new position as Roman Catholic duty priest to the Houses of Parliament.
He is just settling into his new role, to which he was appointed two months ago.
The appointment was made following requests from members of the Palace of Westminster for a RC priest to be available in a pastoral role.
"It's a low key role," explained Fr Browne, who is also continuing as pastor in Pimlico. "I'll be acting as parish priest to Catholics in parliament - not just to MPs, but to staff such as catering, security, admin and police. It's very interesting."
And it's a history-making appointment, too, as he is the first ever Roman Catholic priest to serve parliament since the Reformation. He says Mass in Anglican Chapel of St Mary Undercroft .
"There are about 83 Catholic MPs, and about 40 peers who are Catholic," Fr Browne added.
"The amount of Catholic MPs is higher than the proportion of Catholics in the general population.
"It's going well so far, thank God," he said, adding that times are certainly changing as parliament is regarded as the heart of the establishment, and his appointment is a reflection of those changing times.
Canon Browne is the eldest of a family of seven from Ratoath village. His late father, Jack, was the local postman, and his mother, Lucy, has also passed on. His brother, Aidan, still lives in Ratoath while Benny in Dunshaughlin and Dermot in Ashbourne are other family members still in the locality.
"In those days, Ratoath was a small village with three pubs, a church and a bus going to Dublin," he recalled.
Following the Great Famine and its aftermath, when many Irish people had to emigrate, the Irish bishops decided to set up a seminary to educate priests who would serve these emigrants in America, Britain, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.
So All Hallows College in Dublin was set up by a cleric from Oldcastle, John Hand, and it was from here that Pat Browne was ordained from just over 35 years ago. He signed up for Westminster Diocese.
His first three years were in Edmonton in north London, before his move to Westminster Cathedral, where he spent eight-and-a-half years. He was also private secretary to Cardinal Basil Hume of Westminster for four years.
Indeed, Cardinal Hume travelled to Ratoath to say Mass in Fr Browne's home village during this time.
Fr Browne also was parish priest of Kentish Town for another eight-and-a-half years before his present appointment to Pimlico, and was vocations director for three years.
In 2004, Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor, Archbishop of Westminster, appointed the Ratoath cleric a member of the Westminster Cathedral Chapter of Canons.
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