The Benedictine Community at Kylemore Abbey is an enclosed Monastic Order. Considered to be one of the oldest religious monastic traditions dating from the fifth century, the community at Kylemore Abbey was founded in 1920 by the nuns who fled Belgium during World War 1.
The present Benedictine nuns of Kylemore Abbey have a long history, beginning at Brussels in 1598.
Kylemore Abbey is the oldest of the Irish Benedictine Abbeys. The community of nuns, who have resided here since 1920, have a long history stretching back almost three hundred and forty years. Founded in Ypres, Belgium, in 1665, the house was formally made over to the Irish nation in 1682. The purpose of the abbey at Ypres was to provide an education and religious community for Irish women during times of persecution here in Ireland. Through the centuries, Ypres Abbey attracted the daughters of the Irish nobility, both as students and postulants, and enjoyed the patronage of many influential Irish families living in exile.
Following the suppression of religious houses in the British Isles, British Catholics left England and opened religious houses abroad. A number of monasteries originated from one Benedictine house in Brussels, founded by Lady Mary Percy in 1598. Houses founded from Lady Mary’s house in Brussels were at Cambray in France (now Stanbrook in England) and at Ghent (now Oulton Abbey) in Staffordshire. Ghent, in turn, founded several Benedictine Houses, one of which was at Ypres.
At the request of King James II the nuns moved to Dublin in 1688. However, they returned to Ypres following James’s defeat at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690. The community finally left Ypres after the Abbey was destroyed in the early days of World War One. The community first took refuge in England, and later in Co Wexford before eventually settling at Kylemore in December 1920. Here, the nuns reopened their international boarding school and established a day school for local girls. They also ran a farm and guesthouse; the guesthouse was closed after a devastating fire in 1959. In 2010, the Girl’s Boarding School was closed and the nuns have since been developing new education and retreat activities.
Notre Dame Kylemore is happy to coordinate involvement with the Benedictine Community and expose students to their commercial activities which include the chocolate-making facility, produce, pottery, and selection of handmade products. The community also provides lectures in patristics and can offer spiritual retreats.