Entertainment

WATCH: Irish priest uses Alexa to play Daniel O'Donnell during lockdown mass

THE SPREAD of covid-19 across the globe has left a lot of people feeling anxious, unsure of what the future holds and having to do things they never have before.

The streets were deserted on St Patrick's Day, schools across Ireland have closed for the foreseeable future, and the churches have closed their doors to parishioners.

But while the sheer sadness of how this pandemic has changed our island cannot be ignored, it's important also to enjoy the happy moments when they appear-- and this video proves just that.

As mass gatherings have been cancelled, so too have 'Mass' gatherings (Excuse the pun, but it had to be done).

Churches across Ireland are now livestreaming their services to parishioners on a daily basis, and while this is a fantastic initiative, many priests are just getting to grips with modern technology for the first time, with some fairly 'Father Ted'-esque results.

One such priest in Burtonport, County Donegal, Father Pat Ward, was livestreaming to his congregation when he tried to play Daniel O'Donnell's song 'Hail Glorious St. Patrick'.

The video shows him standing alone at the altar, warning viewers that he was about to tell his Alexa to play the tune and so people watching should mute their audio so that their own device would not listen in and play the same song.

In a strong Donegal accent, he calls out: "Alexa, play 'Hail Glorious St. Patrick' by Daniel O'Donnell"-- and as the device responds, he hisses 'Yes!', punches the air (which quite possibly has never been done by a priest saying Mass before) and excitedly says 'It worked!'.

Check out the video, posted to Twitter by user Liam McBurney, below, and give yourself a laugh-- we all need one.