FIRST LOOK: Monks who left abbey after closure due to falling numbers and aging community
Sad news for the local community
"Safe travels Brothers. See ye when ye get back God willing," was among the tributes on social media to the departing monks of Mount Mellerary.
The Waterford abbey - which was adored and popular amongst people in south Tipperary - has closed this weekend after two centuries.
It is closing due to falling numbers and an aging community.
The order merged three abbeys last November to ensure monks in Ireland have a future including Mount Melleray, Mellifont in Louth and Mount St Joseph in Tipperary.
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Many people have been visiting the abbey since the news and there was a final Mass on Saturday at 11am.
Mount Melleray was founded in 1892 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.
It was called Mount Melleray in memory of the motherhouse.
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.