BREAKING: Monks in Mount St Joseph's Roscrea will relocate to Louth

The monastic community based in Mount St Joseph's Abbey near Roscrea have announced they intend to relocate to Mellifont Abbey in County Louth following a vote last week.

News that the monastic community intend to leave the Roscrea Abbey for their new "long-term home" in Mellifont was met with sadness locally on Monday in Offaly and North Tipperary.

In January 2025, the Community of Our Lady of Silence, comprising the members of the former Cistercian Abbeys of Mount Melleray, Mount Saint Joseph, and Mellifont, made the decision to come together for an interim period at Mount Saint Joseph Abbey near Roscrea.

"This arrangement afforded us the necessary space and time to reflect carefully on our long-term future and to engage in a prayerful process of discernment regarding a permanent home for the Community," Dom Rufus Pound OCSO Superior of Our Lady of Silence Abbey, said.

"Last week, following a formal vote of the Conventual Chapter, the monastic community decided to relocate to Mellifont Abbey, Co. Louth, as our long-term home. We understand that this decision will bring great disappointment locally.

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"We wish to express our heartfelt gratitude to the wider community for its steadfast support, friendship, and generosity over many generations. The strong bonds formed here are enduring and deeply valued.

"We anticipate that the transition will take place over at least the next eighteen months, allowing a proper opportunity to mark our departure and to say farewell in an appropriate and respectful manner," Dom Rufus said.

Dom Rufus said a special word of appreciation is due the staff at the Abbey, whose dedication, professionalism, and loyalty have "supported our life and work in countless ways," he said.

"For their generous commitment over so many years, we are profoundly grateful. We will now enter into diligent and respectful discussions with them, with the aim of supporting and guiding all through this period of transition.

"We are committed to ensuring that appropriate provisions are made and that everyone is treated with fairness, dignity, and care. While we will no longer reside on the grounds we have shared for so long with Cistercian College, our bond remains strong and enduring.

"We will continue in our role as Patrons and remain fully committed to the future of the College, to its mission, and to the ethos and values that have shaped generations of students," Dom Rufus Pound said.

He added the monastic community has "every confidence" in the Board of Management and in the leadership of College President, Colm Maloney, and his team.

Under their stewardship, the College will act as custodian of our shared heritage and will carry forward the legacy entrusted to it, ensuring that the values intrinsic to the Cistercian tradition continue to flourish in the years ahead, he said.

"We were particularly encouraged by the decision to transition to a co-educational model and remain immensely proud of the College’s legacy and its past pupils, whose contributions to both the monastic and wider community are beyond measure. Their loyalty, service, and faithfulness remain a source of encouragement to us all.

"We recognise that our departure will offer new opportunities for the College to expand and grow, and we look forward to remaining partners in its continued development long into the future.

"We ask the whole community of Roscrea to keep us in prayer as we take this significant step on our journey. Please be assured that you all remain close to our hearts and in our prayer. Difficult decisions require deep trust in God, and, with that trust, we move forward in faith, confident that the Lord has guided us on this path and will continue to do so in the years ahead.

"With gratitude for the past and hope for what lies ahead, we entrust ourselves, the College, and the whole wider community of Roscrea to God’s faithful blessing and loving care," Dom Rufus Pound said.
Colm Maloney, President of the Cistercian College Roscrea, said "this is an important moment in the shared history of the monks and the Cistercian College."

The Cistercian College is preparing to transition to a co-educational model in September and welcome female students for the first time.

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The College President said he wants to offer "clear reassurance" the decision will not impact the "strength, leadership or future direction of the College."

He said Dom Rufus will remain Patron of Cistercian College and said he has reaffirmed his full commitment to its future and assured his ongoing support for the Board of Management and College leadership.

"This move will be deeply felt by parents, Pastment, students, staff and especially by the wider local community and personally by me. So many have grown up with Mount St. Joseph as part of their faith, family life and shared history," Mr Maloney said.

"We are proud to be their living legacy here at Mount St. Joseph, carrying their mission forward into the future through the education and formation of young men and women.

"This development also presents opportunities for the College to grow and expand, particularly as we prepare to transition to a co-educational model in September and welcome girls for the first time in our history," Mr Maloney said.

"Our focus remains firmly on providing an outstanding education, strong pastoral care in boarding, a proud tradition in sport and music and a living Cistercian tradition for our students.

"Cistercian College stands on strong foundations and looks to the future with confidence and clarity. We are grateful for the continued trust and support of our parents and Pastmen and for the enduring bond we share with the monastic community," The Cistercian College President, Mr Maloney said.

Offaly County Councillor, Peter Ormond, told the Tribune that there is "sadness in the air throughout the community" as news broke that the community of Our Lady of Silence Abbey will relocate to Louth.

Cllr Ormond said the monastic community made an enormous contribution to our area and will be sadly missed. "I want to take the opportunity to wish them every success and to thank them," he said.

Bishop of Killaloe, Fintan Monahan, said “It is with great sadness that I learned in recent days of the decision of the Cistercian Community of Our Lady of Silence Abbey, Roscrea (formerly Mount Saint Joseph’s Abbey), to relocate to Mellifont Abbey.“Since 1878, the Cistercian Abbey has been an integral part of the pastoral life of the Diocese of Killaloe.

"It holds a special place in the hearts of the people of Roscrea - those who prayed and worshipped there, the generations of pupils and staff associated with the school on the abbey grounds since 1905, and the many people who participated in spiritual retreats while availing of the outstanding hospitality of its welcoming guesthouse. The farm on the college grounds also formed an important part of the fabric of the local hinterland,” he said.

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“The contribution of the monks and school staff to the life of education through the work of the boarding school is respected and appreciated all over the country and particularly with the strong sporting ethos. I and the diocese of Killaloe am grateful that the Cistercians will continue as patrons of the College and the Cistercian spirit will continue to animate it’s life.

“Perhaps the greatest gift given by Abbey is to the spiritual life of the Church. This has been immense with so many deepening their faith through interaction with the monastery. The constant availability of the Sacrament of Reconciliation in the Abbey has been a great source of sólás always. One is particularly mindful of the enduring spiritual legacy of people like Dom Eugene Boylan OCSO, former Abbot, whose writings continue to be widely read by students of prayer and spirituality throughout the world,” he continued.

“While there is a deep sense of sadness and disappointment at local level, I understand that this decision follows a prolonged period of prayerful discernment and reflects the necessary rationalisation taking place in many areas of Church life at present.

“I express my sincere gratitude to Dom Rufus and to all members of the Cistercian Community, past and present, for their prayerful, contemplative, and pastoral presence in the Diocese of Killaloe. I assure them of my good wishes and prayers as they undertake this transition.

“The motto of Cistercian College, 'Insideat coelis animo sed corpore terris' - with the mind fixed on heaven, the body dwelling on earth - aptly captures the enduring witness of this community. May the monks continue to offer a prayerful and pastoral witness to Jesus Christ for as long as they remain in Ireland,” said Bishop Monahan.