The country's youngest priest who starts his first ministry this week says it has been a learning curve.
David Vard, 25, will be a curate in Portlaoise after being ordained in his hometown of Newbridge, County Kildare this summer.
He spent seven years studying in Maynooth University and will be out on his own for the first time ever.
"My mother, she raised me right. I can wash my own clothes, I do my own ironing, I can cook," he said.
"It's just going to do the shopping I'm finding [difficult] - 'oh god, I have to go get it in a shop, it doesn't just appear in a fridge'.
"I think anyone else at 25, one of the things they have to do is learn how to live independently, it's all a big learning curve."