Up until Wednesday of this week, Knock Shrine had looked pretty much like it always does every August. For nine days, from

14 August, the annual influx of 150,000 ­pilgrims attending the national novena thronged the holy site. Then, as the last ­speakers left on Wednesday evening and the pilgrims ebbed away, the shrine switched to “build” mode, and suddenly it looked like something out of an episode of the BBC’s Big Build or RTÉ’s Operation Transformation. By first thing Sunday morning, it had to be ready for the gathering and welcoming ­ceremony for a special pilgrim. Pope Francis is due to arrive at 9.50 a.m.