Padre Pio was a stigmatic, mystic and wonder-worker, and he is arguably Ireland's favourite saint.

Compiled by award-winning journalist Colm Keane, this remarkable collection of stories is crammed full of miracles and cures attributed to Padre Pio's intercession. There are accounts of scientifically inexplicable recoveries from cancer, heart disease and brain damage, along with revivals from blood clots, strokes, multiple sclerosis and life-threatening viral infections. Also featured are visions, apparitions and supernormal coincidences.

Elsewhere in the book, early Irish pilgrims speak of trail-blazing journeys to San Giovanni Rotondo in the 1950s and '60s, while visits by devotees to Padre Pio's beatification in 1999 and his canonisation in 2002 are vividly recounted.

Using personal testimonies, Padre Pio: The Irish Connection documents the widespread influence of this complex and intriguing Italian saint, who bore the wounds of Christ for half a century until his death in 1968.