Under every Station of the Cross at the Franciscan Friary in Killarney there is a polite sign which asks people to turn off their mobile phones.
People going to Mass at the friary are being shocked into turning off their mobiles by the sheer volume of A4 signs dotted around the church, some in yellow and some in blue.
Each of the Stations of the Cross has a notice underneath and there are four notices on the back pillars.
A growth in mobile phone interruptions has led to the drastic action. Mass in Killarney regularly starts with two or three calls - and that's just the beginning.
"Mobile phones are becoming such a nuisance these days at Mass, we took the decision to erect the signs to remind people," Father Michael Harris OFM, guardian of the friary, said.
He has never stopped Mass because of the interruptions. But lately members of the congregation - which regularly includes large numbers of tourists - were allowing the phone to ring, leaving to take their calls and then returning.
A rummage through bags and pockets just to find the phone was a regular occurrence.
And there were people who would look around trying to shift the blame as if it were not their phone. What makes it worse is that the volume keeps going up on the newer phones the longer they are left unanswered, Father Harris observed.
The Franciscans in Killarney want people to turn off their phones once they enter the church, or at least to put them into silent mode. This is because mobiles have gone off even in the confession box.
"When the phone goes off in the confession box, I laugh and I tell the person `it must be God ringing to remind you to tell the truth'," he said.
"People go into church for quiet, whether or not there is a ceremony, and their peace should not be disturbed," Father Harris said.
"Mass is only 35 to 40 minutes, it is not a lot to ask," he added.
He said he had no plans yet to preach a sermon on the subject of the mobile and people's inability to stay out of touch for even a short while.
Father Harris leaves his own mobile phone in the sacristy and never takes it onto the altar.
It would be just his luck that he would forget about it one of these days, he said.