RTÉ’s recent documentary, The Hills Are Alive: A Year at Kylemore Abbey, offered a rare glimpse behind the walls of one of Ireland’s most remarkable monastic communities.
Nestled in the misty Connemara landscape, the Benedictine abbey at Kylemore remains a place where silence and prayer shape daily life.
But behind that serenity lies a centuries-long story of exile, endurance and spiritual resilience, one that reached a major milestone last year with the opening of Ireland’s first purpose-built Benedictine monastery for women since the medieval era.
Kylemore is one of Ireland’s most iconic landmarks. Its dramatic facade, mirrored in the still waters of Pollacappul lake, appears on everything from postcards to social media feeds, and even features on a page of the Irish passport.
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Yet the beating heart of Kylemore is somewhat less well known: a small Benedictine community whose quiet devotion and daily rhythm animate the estate in ways both ancient and strikingly modern.
The community traces its origins to the English Benedictine convent founded in Ypres, Belgium, in 1665 (reassigned as an Irish house in 1682). Dedicated to the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary, the Ypres monastery was part of a broader wave of Irish female religious foundations established on the Continent after the Reformation.
In Ireland and England during the 16th and 17th centuries, anti-Catholic laws severely restricted religious life, making it difficult for women to found or join convents.
Many travelled to Europe to pursue their vocations. Communities such as the Irish Poor Clares in Dunkirk (1626), the Irish Dominicans in Lisbon (1639) and the Benedictines at Ypres offered refuge and continuity. These were more than spiritual havens; they were centres of education, Irish identity and quiet resistance.
A pivotal figure in this exiled tradition was Dame Mary Joseph Butler (1641–1723), from Callan, Co Kilkenny, who was elected abbess of Ypres in 1686, the first Irish-born woman to hold the role.
Under her leadership the community even founded a short-lived convent in Dublin at the invitation of King James II, before returning to Ypres amid the upheaval of the Williamite Wars.
Over time, the community became known as the Irish Dames of Ypres, reflecting its growing national character. Although they survived revolutions and suppression, their monastery was destroyed during the first World War.
Driven from their home, the nuns sought refuge in England, then Wexford, and finally at Kylemore Castle in December 1920. Built in the 1860s as a romantic neo-Gothic estate by the English-born MP Mitchell Henry (1826–1910), Kylemore had become vacant after being occupied by the Duke and Duchess of Manchester.
The Benedictines transformed it into a new home, establishing a boarding school for girls in 1923. The school became internationally known for its academic rigour and spiritual grounding, drawing students from Ireland, Britain, the US, and beyond.
In addition to their educational mission, the nuns restored the Victorian walled garden and Gothic church and shaped Kylemore into a place of prayer, hospitality, and cultural stewardship.
When the school closed in 2010, many feared it signalled the end of the community. But true to the Benedictine motto ora et labora (prayer and work), the nuns reimagined their mission.
They developed a retreat programme, partnered with the American University of Notre Dame and deepened their engagement with visitors. Their handcrafted soaps, chocolates and herbal remedies became tangible expressions of monastic labour and care.
More than a century after arriving at Kylemore, the community has reached a milestone: the construction of a new monastery on the estate. The Monastery of the Immaculate Conception, officially blessed in August 2024, is the first purpose-built Benedictine monastery for women in Ireland since the Reformation.
Its name, echoing the original Ypres dedication, carries a strong sense of spiritual continuity. Designed for the needs of a modern contemplative community, it includes accommodation, a novitiate, retreat centre, archives and chapel, embodying Benedictine simplicity and hospitality; rooted in tradition but open to the world.
Today, the Kylemore community numbers 15 women, with sisters hailing from Australia, India, the Philippines, China and elsewhere, reflecting an increasingly international profile, but also the challenges of recruiting vocations in Ireland.
In 2022, they formally joined the English Benedictine Congregation, a recognition of shared heritage and a step toward long-term support. Their rhythm remains grounded in the Rule of St Benedict: seven periods of communal prayer, manual labour, lectio divina and community life.
But they are not frozen in time. They offer online spiritual resources, host academic residencies and welcome pilgrims and seekers. In an age of digital noise and spiritual fragmentation, the Benedictines of Kylemore offer something rare: a space for silence, rhythm and reflection.
Their story is not one of decline, but of patient transformation. From the war-ravaged streets of Ypres to the stillness of Connemara, their journey speaks to the enduring power of faith, community and place.
In this quiet corner of the west of Ireland, the hills are indeed alive, not with noise, but with prayer, tradition and the steady heartbeat of a life dedicated to contemplation.
Dr Bronagh Ann McShane is Research Fellow in History (VOICES project) at Trinity College Dublin. She is author of Irish Women in Religious Orders, 1530-1700: Suppression, Migration and Reintegration (2022).
