More than 160 people attended the vocations day in Clonliffe College seminary on Saturday, the largest attendance in a decade, according to the Archdiocese of Dublin.
The director of vocation in the diocese, Father Derek Smyth, said the attendance of young men inquiring about priesthood was also the largest in years, at about 60.
Father Smyth attributed the high turnout to the publicity generated by the church's current "Men in Black" advertising campaign, and the widespread media coverage of the news that Clonliffe had no new entrants this year.