St. Benedict in his Rule for Monasteries encourages us to ‘live by the labour of our hands…’ One of our main sources of income here at St. Mary’s Abbey is the production of cards for a variety of occasions. This industry began in Glencairn in 1955 with the design and production of Christmas Cards and other greeting cards by the late Sr. Paula Kiersey ocso, a well–known professional artist before she entered our community. After the changes in monastic life at Vatican II, Sr Paula returned to her craft and specialised in writing icons which we also feature in our range of cards.

The development of Glencairn cards has evolved today into a much wider production field. A variety of greeting cards for all occasions in Irish and in English, as well as Christmas, Easter and St. Patrick Day cards are now designed and printed in our own print works. A selection of our designs include printed reproduction flower cards as well as photo cards depicting scenes of our surrounding nature here at the Abbey. We also print personalised cards, bookmarks and prayer cards for any special occasion.

To order Glencairn Abbey cards, you can now visit our online shop at: glencairnabbeyshop.com

The production of pressed flower cards began in 1999 as a sister’s hobby and has since become one of our most popular ranges of cards.  We offer a unique range of individually handcrafted cards made from pressed flowers grown in the monastery gardens which are made to order.  Our pressed flowers offer a touch of the beauty of nature at Glencairn and are accompanied by a message for a variety of occasions.

A wide variety of Memorial and Acknowledgement / Thank You cards suitable for commemorating the deceased are also available in a range of sizes, created specifically to meet the customers’ personal requirements. We include the deceased and the bereaved in our community prayer. An important role is giving time to the bereaved who come to buy our cards. To book an appointment please phone us at: +353 (0)58 56901