Monks from Waterford and Louth will move to Roscrea

ROSCREA'S Mount St. Joseph's Abbey will become the new temporary home of monks and lay brothers from the historic Cistercian Abbey at Mount Melleray in Waterford, which is due to close in January.

The decision was taken due to the falling numbers of vocations and ageing community of monks, the Cistercian Order said last Friday when the news broke the historic Waterford Abbey will close its doors.

The move will also see monks from Mellifont in Co Louth relocate to at Roscrea as part of the repurposing of sites owned by the Cistercians.

The Cistercians are active in the country since 1142 and work at six locations in Counties Waterford, Louth, Tipperary and Antrim.

The Order has decided that with effect from January 26, 2025, three of their communities, at 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.

The new community has been given the name of The Abbey of Our Lady of Silence, and its residency at Roscrea is an interim measure, the Order emphasised.

“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,” said Dom Rufus Pound OCSO, a spokesperson for the Cistercian Abbey of Our Lady of Silence.

“Cistercian College, Roscrea continues to go from strength to strength and will not be impacted in any way, by decisions in the future", he told the Irish Independent.

"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”, Dom Rufus said.