Vigils, processions to precede celebrations

The Catholic primate, Archbishop Sean Brady, will officiate at the Holy Saturday ceremonies in St Patrick's Cathedral, Armagh, tonight where the Easter Vigil begins at 9 p.m.

In Dublin Cardinal Desmond Connell will be celebrant at the Easter Vigil in the Pro-Cathedral, which begins at 9.30 p.m.

The Easter Vigil at Christ Church Cathedral, with Eucharist of the Resurrection, begins at 9 p.m.

The Paschal Fire will be lit at the Old Bridge, Clonmel, at 8.15 this evening and will be followed by a candlelight procession by the town's three parishes.

The procession will cross the bridge before each parish community walks to its own church for the completion of the Easter Vigil. In the church of SS Peter and Paul the scriptures will be brought to life through dramatisation.

In Waterford the Paschal Fire will be blessed and lit at 8.30 p.m. in Ballybricken Square. All inner-city parishes will participate. When the fire is lit, priests and people will walk in procession back to their individual parishes and continue with the Easter Vigil.

RTE is broadcasting this year's Easter ceremonies live from the Cathedral of Christ the King, Mullingar. Tonight the Easter Vigil will be broadcast from there on RTE 1 television at 10.10. The celebrant will be Bishop Michael Smith of Meath.

Tomorrow, Easter Sunday, morning Mass will be celebrated by Archbishop Sean Brady.

In Dublin 11 a.m. Mass tomorrow in the Pro-Cathedral will be celebrated by Cardinal Connell.

The Festival Sung Eucharist at Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, is at 11 a.m. tomorrow, with Archbishop Walton Empey preaching. There will also be a Festal Evensong and Te Deum at the cathedral tomorrow, beginning at 3.30 p.m.

As is traditional, there will be ecumenical Easter dawn services tomorrow morning on Howth Head and Killiney Hill in Dublin. The Howth service begins at 6.15 a.m. and the Killiney service at 6.26.

Father Sean Healy will be celebrant at the Easter Sunday Mass in the Cathedral of Christ the King, Mullingar, which will be broadcast on RTE 1 television at 11.35 a.m. tomorrow. Presentation will be by Father Dermod McCarthy of RTE.

At 10.30 a.m. tomorrow Pope John Paul will preside at Mass in St Peter's Square, after which he will impart the blessing Urbi et Orbi ("to the city and the world"). RTE 1 television will broadcast the event at 11 a.m.

For many in Wexford, a highlight of this Easter Sunday will be the arrival in Rosslare at 10.30 tomorrow morning of the relics of St Therese of Lisieux on board the Irish Ferries vessel, MV Normandy.