Several thousand people have prayed in front of the heart of St Camillus in Killucan, Co Westmeath in Ireland.

It is the third occasion in four centuries that it has been taken outside Rome. The visit commemorates 75 years of service by the Camillian Order in Ireland.

The town of Killucan is the base of the order: both its Irish and British province and the priests and brothers help to run a 57-bed nursing home in the grounds of the monastery.

In addition, the Westmeath hospice maintains a unit in the complex. The itinerary for the two-week visit of the relic included Dublin and Knock, Co Mayo. It arrived at the Mater Hospital in the capital on July 15.

Then it was taken to St Joseph’s church on Berkeley road, where Fr Stephen Foster, Provincial of the Order of St Camillus, celebrated Mass.