A total of 19 trainee priests are set to enter the national seminary in Maynooth this year - the second year in a row the number has shown a small but significant rise after a period of a crisis in vocations.
This has prompted cautious hopes that the life - and death - of the late Pope John Paul II could have a lasting effect on the number of young Irish men choosing to join the priesthood.
In all, about 25 young Irish men are expected to enrol as first-year trainee diocesan priests either here or in Rome.
This figure includes students at St Patrick's College, Maynooth and the Irish College in Rome, and represents the only significant increases in 20 years.
However, with 28 for last year, the figure for the total number of trainee priests remains a long way behind previous generations. For example, 20 years ago, there were 169 first-year trainee priests throughout the country.
According to the national co-ordinator for vocations for the Catholic Church, Fr Kevin Doran, there are many reasons for the increases of the past two years. The pope's death had led to a significant interest in vocations, he said.
"There was a heightened awareness, not just in the sense that people were aware of it at the time, but there was a lot of replaying of what he had said during his life and an opportunity to listen again to other things he had said," he said. "I would like to think it has had some effect."
Fr Doran added that he was hopeful that the increase in vocations would continue "slowly but surely" in years to come.
Similarly, Msgr Dermot Farrell, president of St Patrick's College, welcomed the "continuing growth in the number of students studying for the priesthood as good news for Catholic communities throughout the country".
The 19 first-year seminarians at Maynooth are due to begin their studies on Saturday, and will continue for up to seven years. They bring the total number of seminarians at the college at the start of the academic year to 75, compared to 63 last year.
Speaking from Rome, the vice-rector of the Irish College, Fr Albert McDonnell, also acknowledged a "gradual but steady" increase in the number of people entering the priesthood.
The college expects to have two new seminarians from Ireland this year, out of a total of five who would be arriving to either commence or continue their studies there.
It was not possible to "talk about a typical seminarian", he said. But, whereas in the past many went straight from school, increasingly those entering the priesthood have spent time in university or the world of work before deciding to do so.
Fr McDonnell also pointed out that, as the assessment process for entrance to the priesthood takes time, the true effect of Pope John Paul's death may not be visible until a year from now.
"I'm sure a lot of people thought about (a vocation) in that context," he said. "But it is next year that we would see it if it is to have an impact. Most people think it probably will."