Engaged couples receive special blessing at shrine of St Valentine

ENGAGED Irish couples have received a special blessing this week in honour of St Valentine’s Day.

The event was held at the shrine of Saint Valentine, which is located in Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Dublin’s Whitefriar Street.

Organised by Accord, the Irish Catholic Marriage Care Service, the service was presided over by Bishop Denis Nulty, who is the Bishop of Kildare & Leighlin.

David Lovett and Louise O’Reilly (left) and Jimmy Moynihan and Margaret Gleeson with Bishop Denis Nulty at a blessing of engaged couples at the shrine of Saint Valentine in Dublin

Among those in attendance were David Lovett and Louise O’Reilly and Jimmy Moynihan and Margaret Gleeson.

Both couples hail from Dublin and are engaged to be married.

During the event, their engagement rings were blessed, before a special Mass was held.

David Lovett and Louise O’Reilly are due to be married in 2026

Bishop Nulty said: “It’s always a wonderful occasion, the blessing of the rings of two engaged couples Louise and David and Margaret and Jimmy at the Shrine of St Valentine and taking the opportunity to talk about the work of Accord.”

During the service Accord launched a new marriage preparation course.

Bishop Nulty is the president of Accord, which has released research this week revealing a high proportion of Irish people have had to delay getting married due to the housing crisis.

Jimmy Moynihan and Margaret Gleeson will be married this May

Accord’s Amárach survey found 84 per cent of adults claim the housing crisis is causing some couples to delay getting married and/or have children.

Accord director Tony Shanahan said their findings “reveal the extent to which the lack of housing supply is impacting on the decision-making of couples who wish to get married and have children”.

“This has serious social implications now and into the future,” he added.

“The hope that young people hold for a married life together, and to start a family, needs to be underpinned by certainty in a functioning and affordable housing market.”

Bishop Nulty added: “Having the security of a home is an essential start for any couple and for any family.”