Coach Jacques Brunel also brought in Lorenzo Cittadini in place of injured prop Martin Castrogiovanni and loosehead Andrea Lo Cicero will collect a record 103rd cap after replacing Alberto De Marchi.
Italy, who lost 18-11 to England at Twickenham on Sunday, are fifth in the table and hope to both avoid the wooden spoon by beating fourth-placed Ireland for the first time in the Six Nations.
Favaro takes the place of Robert Barbieri, who picked up a knock at Twickenham, and Castrogiovanni is still recovering from the muscle strain which forced him off during the England game.
Italy team:
15-Andrea Masi, 14-Giovanbattista Venditti, 13-Gonzalo Canale, 12-Gonzalo Garcia, 11-Luke McLean, 10-Luciano Orquera, 9-Edoardo Gori, 8-Sergio Parisse, 7-Simone Favaro, 6-Alessandro Zanni, 5-Joshua Furno, 4-Quintin Geldenhuys, 3-Lorenzo Cittadini, 2-Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1-Andrea Lo Cicero.
Replacements:
16-Davide Giazzon, 17-Michele Rizzo, 18-Alberto De Marchi, 19-Antonio Pavanello, 20-Francesco Minto, 21-Paul Derbyshire, 22-Tobias Botes, 23-Tommaso Benvenuti.
