Thurles Co. Tipp Previously Visited By His Holiness Pope Leo XIV.

We learned today (and it has been confirmed) that His Holiness, Pope Leo XIV, previously visited Thurles, Co. Tipperary.
His Holiness stayed for 5 nights at the Horse & Jockey Hotel, Horse & Jockey, Thurles, latter regarded as the traditional crossroads of Ireland, set in the heartland of Co. Tipperary and one of Ireland’s overall great meeting places for some 250 years.

Thurles.Info contacted the Horse & Jockey hotel today; successfully run by the Egan family and while management and staff declined to comment, a well informed source who was present during his stay, confirmed that His Holiness was a resident guest there, for some five nights, towards the end of June 2013, while presiding over an Augustinian seminar, held in the hotels excellent, tiered, conference facility.

His Holiness, Pope Leo XIV, was Prior General of the Order of Saint Augustine for some 12 years; from 2001‍ until 2013. The Order of Saint Augustine is a mendicant religious order of the Catholic Church and was founded back in 1244, after groups in the Tuscany region; latter not concerned with the temporal world or swayed by mundane considerations, were found to follow the Rule of St Augustine, written by the theologian, writer, preacher, rhetorician, Bishop and later Saint Aurelius Augustine of Hippo, in the fifth century. (Note: Hippo Regius is the ancient name of the modern city of Annaba, Algeria). St Augustine was known to have written over 200 books and nearly 1,000 sermons, letters, and other works, before the theologian and philosophers own death on August 28th 430.

Aurelius Augustine of Hippo was canonized by popular acclaim and recognized as a Doctor of the Church by Pope Boniface VIII in 1298. His feast day is also celebrated on August 28th.

Currently the Horse & Jockey Hotel is justifiably regarded as the number one “licensed hostelry”, here in Co. Tipperary and beyond; having been awarded the Gold Medal Awards:- ‘Best 4* (Star) Hotel in Ireland’, last year, (2024) and also the Georgina Campbell ‘Best Business Hotel’; again in 2024.