Forget Paris, Dublin is the city of love

Since 1836, the remains of St Valentine have been in Dublin, including his heart. Given to Fr John Spratt by Pope Gregory XV as a token of esteem, the casket with the remains inside lies in Whitefriar Street Church in Dublin and can be visited by anyone at anytime.

The story begins in Rome, Italy, when Fr John Spratt was there on one of his speaking tours. During his time there, his appearances began attracting the creme de la creme of Italian society, who turned out to hear him speak. He would receive praise in all forms wherever he went; presents, praise and tokens of esteem. One day, one of these tokens of esteem came in the form of a casket, holding the remains of the Patron Saint of love and lovers St Valentines himself, and was given to Fr John by none other, his Holiness Pope Gregory XVI.

The remains were put safely away in storage inside Whitefriar Church however after the passing of Fr Spratt and the bishop, they were forgotten about. There was a lot going on in Dublin around this time and none of it was nice. The famine had struck Ireland and there was a rebellion happening across Dublin, people had other things on their minds than the remains of some Saint.

100 years later in the 1950s, Whitefriar Church was under renovation and the remains were rediscovered and removed from storage. It didn't take long for the remains to be identified as that of St Valentines and so a shrine and special side altar were built inside the Church for the casket and to honour St Valentine's passing. A new statue of the saint which was carved for the alter shows the Saint wearing the red cloth of the martyr and holding his symbolic crocus aloft in blessing all lovers. The black casket remains in niche under the alter which is open to the public everyday. A recent addition to the shrine is a large book where visitors can ask the St to bless their loved ones and help them in finding true love. What was once a nice collection of good wishes I'm sure, has turned into what reads as a rather sad and depressing diary of Irish Mammies begging the Saint to get their desperate older daughters husbands and out of their houses!

Every February 14th, the casket is taken from the Shrine and placed before high alter of the church for a special Valentine's mass. It is for this reason that the people of Ireland for centuries have been die hard, old fashioned, hopeless romantics. How could we not? Legend has it, that with the heart and soul of the Patron Saint himself lying in the centre of our fair city, every now and then it gently beats, reigniting the flame of love and passion even in the most heartless of Irishmen.