Closure of Mount Melleray in Co Waterford confirmed
The decision to close Mount Melleray was made with the aim of ensuring a future for Cistercian life in Ireland, a spokesperson said.
Mount Melleray Abbey in County Waterford will be closing in January and its monks transferred to Roscrea on an interim basis.
The decision was made with the aim of ensuring a future for Cistercian life in Ireland, a spokesperson said.
In a statement to the Waterford News & Star, Superior ad nutum at Abbey of Our Lady of Silence, Dom Rufus Pound ocso, said that the decision came after “much reflection and soul searching as an order".
“We have been confronted with these difficult decisions as we address the reality of falling numbers and ageing communities; issues which other similar communities are also addressing at this time.
“We will be continuing our presence in Ireland into the future, but to achieve this, regretfully, we must consolidate in accordance with the restrictions of our present resources.”
Regarding the future of Mount Melleray and the other vacated abbeys, Fr Rufus said: “No final decisions have been taken at this stage regarding any of the properties, which may be vacated in the near future, however as decisions are made further announcements will be forthcoming.”
“This is a difficult time for all the members of our new Community as we strive to meet the challenge of our present day realities. It is especially difficult for those who have spent their entire lives in a specific monastery and must now adjust to these changed circumstances.
“We would also like to take this opportunity to thank our staff, some of whom have been with us and supported us for decades, and the many other loyal volunteers and friends who will be affected by these developments.
"None of the previous three abbeys would have survived over the centuries without the support and friendship of those in the locality, but also many others associated with them in different ways.
"We recognise and acknowledge the often profound attachment all these have towards our monasteries and we deeply regret that we will not be able to maintain our presence at all three locations, as we embark on this new beginning.
"Our gratitude and prayers will continue to be with those who have shared our journey in so many rich and varied ways here in Ireland over the years."
The order have decided that, with effect from January 26, 2025, three of their communities, namely, Mount Melleray, Mellifont and Mount St Joseph, which since November 3, the Feast of St Malachy, have already merged as one new single community, will be based, for an interim period, at Roscrea.
This new community has been given the name of ‘The Abbey of Our Lady of Silence’, and its residency at Roscrea is only as an interim measure. Abbeys at Moone (Co. Kildare) and at Portglenone (Co. Antrim) will not be affected by this decision and will continue as autonomous communities.
Fr Rufus said: "Our new community of Our Lady of Silence currently consists of twenty-six members, three of whom are novices, and already interest has been expressed from others wishing to join us. We are optimistic that this now has the potential to become a vibrant community wherever we finally decide that it will be located.
"We will now take time to consider how this new community will develop and where it will ultimately reside on a permanent basis. In the context of our decision we must rationalise our use of the three properties formerly associated with the three pre-existing communities, in line with our present day needs and resources."
The community members of Our Lady of Silence will, in the main, continue at their present locations until January 26, 2025. Thereafter they will vacate Mount Melleray and Mellifont until final decisions have been made in regard to the long term location of the new community.
The Cistercians were first established in Ireland in 1142, initially at Mellifont Abbey by St Malachy.
Mount Mellaray was founded on May 30, 1832, at Scrahan, Cappoquin, by a colony of Irish and English monks, expelled from the abbey of Melleray after the French Revolution of 1830, and who had come to Ireland under the leadership of Fr Vincent de Paul Ryan.
On the feast of St Bernard, 1833, the foundation stone of the new monastery was blessed by the Most Rev. Wm. Abraham, bishop of Waterford and Lismore.
