St. Mary's AI, Glencairn

St. Mary's Abbey, Glencairn, Co. Waterford, Ireland

Welcome to St. Mary's Abbey, Glencairn

St Mary’s Abbey, Glencairn is the only Cistercian monastery for women in Ireland. Our monastery is located in the Blackwater Valley, about 3 miles upstream from Lismore, County Waterford.

At the heart of the monastic life is the search for God; here at Glencairn, we seek God and follow Christ in a life of prayer and community, solitude and simplicity, work and hospitality.

We follow the Rule of St Benedict, an ancient source of monastic wisdom that continues to guide many people in search of an authentic spiritual path in today’s world.

There are three key elements in our day: Lectio Divina, Liturgy and Work.

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Prayer in a time of discernment...

O LORD GOD,
I have no idea where I am going,
I do not see the road ahead of me,
I cannot know for certain where it will end.

Nor do I really know myself,
and the fact that I think
I am following Your will
does not mean that I am actually doing so.

But I believe
that the desire to please You
does in fact please You.
and I hope I have that desire
in all that I am doing.

I hope that I will never do anything
apart from that desire to please You,
and I know that if I do this
You will lead me by the right road,
though I may know nothing about it.

Therefore I will trust You always
though I may seem to be lost
and in the shadow of death.
I will not fear,
for You are ever with me,
and You will never leave me
to make my journey alone.

-Thomas Merton, Cistercian Monk

Our Community

Our community was founded in 1932 by Holy Cross Abbey, Stapehill, England with the support of the monks of Mount Melleray Abbey, County Waterford, Ireland.

The community quickly grew and in 1949 Glencairn founded the first Cistercian monastery for women in the United States; Mount Saint Mary’s Abbey, Wrentham, Massachussetts.

Saint Justina’s monastery, a second foundation of Glencairn, was founded in Abakaliki, Nigeria in 1982.

Today, we are a community blessed with 36 sisters from all over Ireland and different parts of the world, with a wide range of age groups represented, from the thirties to the nineties!

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