Everybody has a dream job. Gerry O'Reilly, sacristan in St Mel's Cathedral, had a very simple one. He wanted to be a sacristan in a church in Rome (For the uninitiated, a sacristan is like a church caretaker).
Noticing an ad on RTE looking for participants in a programme called 'Living the Dream', Gerry and his wife Mary, from Bannon Terrace in Longford Town, applied to make their dream come through. After a short selection process, Coco Television, the in
dependent production company, chose Gerry for one of six programmes to be broadcast on the national broadcaster starting in October.
The idea for the programme is a reduced version of 'The Great Escape', made by the same company, which saw people leave their 9-5 jobs to spend a year abroad working at something they always wanted to do. The main difference is the smaller commitment of time. This has made the programme accessible to the likes of Gerry and Mary. Other participants in the programme will be seen running a boutique hotel in Spain, a parmesan cheese farm in Italy and a riding school in France amongst other things.
Filming for Gerry's episode took place over recent weeks in a number of locations in Longford and Rome, as Gerry and Mary went over to Rome to the Bascilica of San Silvestre, which is Cardinal Connell's official chapel when he visits Rome, and handles over 300 Irish weddings a year.
Filming in Longford took place at a variety of locations with scenes in St Mel's Cathedral including a local wedding and two baptisms that took place on the day. Gerry and Mary, as avid Longford Town fans, were also filmed in Flancare Park at the recent St Pat's game.
They were then whisked to Rome for a week, where they stayed at the Basilica – in Cardinal Connell's room – hosted by Fr Denis O'Brien, Fr John Fitzpatrick and Br Stephen Buckley, whom over the course of proceedings have become fast friends. It was no holiday for Gerry however, as he had to fulfil the role of sacristan for a week in which there were eight weddings.
The programme follows his adventures, which include a thrilling scooter ride through Rome to deliver some essential paperwork and an audience with the Pope in St Peter's for Gerry and Mary.
"It was brilliant, it was fantastic, it was an adventure and something Mary and I had never done before," Gerry told the Leader shortly after returning from Rome this week.
Come October, the popular local man will be a bona fide star of the small screen, and he is looking forward to seeing how the programme turns out. However, whether it leads to a full-time move to Rome remains to be seen.
"If we are to move to Rome, it will be to St Peter's. I reckon this was a good audition. I will send it to the Holy Father on DVD for him to have a look," Gerry laughs, tongue firmly in cheek.
