DublinOn an evening brimming with nostalgia, even the heavens played their part. The rain stayed away, as it did 26 years ago when more than one million people crammed into the park.
According to gardaí and the organisers, close to 10,000 made the pilgrimage yesterday, meaning shorter queues at the chip vans.
Other than that, however, it was like stepping back in time.
"Get the last of the Vatican flags," barked a woman with a roadside stall of chocolate bars, Tricolours and rapidly disappearing Pope memorabilia.
Asked where the yellow and white flags had come from, she replied furtively: "We got them from some fella who had been sitting on them for a while."
Some spectators brought deck- chairs allegedly used in 1979. Others relived the last visit by hiking up to the Papal Cross from Parkgate Street, scorning the opportunity to jump on one of the free buses.
Dubliner Angela Ó Floinn said it took her 40 minutes to complete the walk with her husband and their five children.
The last time she did it she was aged just 13.
"I remember there was great excitement at the time, there was a real feeling of euphoria," she said. "He gave great spiritual leadership and I felt we had to come back and give him some of what he gave us."
Auxiliary Bishop of Dublin Eamonn Walsh led mourners in prayers on a specially erected stage where the papal altar once stood.
Sitting empty beside the Bishop was the chair used by the Pope during his visit to the park - a relic normally stored in the park's visitors' centre.
The main addition since 1979 was the proliferation of Polish flags in the crowd. The Bishop's welcome for the Polish community in Ireland got one of the biggest cheers of the evening.
Taoiseach Bertie Ahern jetted in from the morning funeral in Rome for the "sunset service" which featured music from the Army No. 1 Band and Liam Lawton, among others.
Broadcaster Joe Duffy, a cheerleader at the 1979 Youth Mass in Galway, recalled: "Pope John Paul came to Ireland not as a tourist but as a messenger."
Bernadette Greevy sang The Magnificat as she did in the Pope's presence 26 years ago - an event she described as "the greatest moment of my life, professional and personal.
"It feels very sad coming back. I have wonderful memories of the Pope smiling at me after my first hymn. I kissed his ring and he said 'thank you for your beautiful singing'."
Also singing in the park that day was Hilary Hannigan, Tallaght, then aged just 16.
"I was in a choir of about 10,000," the mother of two said modestly. "But it was great."
Excepts from the Pope's speeches in Ireland were recalled in the hour-long ceremony.
Ava Cooper, a teacher and participant in one of the Pope's World Youth Days, recited words from his Dublin trip:
"Prosperity and affluence, even when they are only beginning to be available to larger strata of society, tend to make people assume that they have a right to all that prosperity can bring, and thus they can become more selfish in their demands . . ."
Bishop Walsh urged people to see "new life" and "fresh meaning" in the Pope's words.
"As a new, wealthy nation we have not yet found a way to handle our wealth."
While the Pope's death had brought sadness, the Bishop stressed: "We can't linger much longer in a haven of nostalgia."
He said each mourner should try every year to bring one person "back to God or back to their faith, whatever it may be".