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Columba McCann OSB has been elected the seventh Abbot of Glenstal Abbey.

Abbot Columba begins immediately his eight-year term of office as leader of the monastic community of twenty six Benedictine monks in Murroe, County Limerick.

Raised in Dublin and educated by the Jesuits at Gonzaga College, he studied music at University College Dublin and trained for the priesthood at Holy Cross College in Clonliffe before he was ordained for the Archdiocese of Dublin in 1988.

Following further studies in Rome, he lectured in liturgy at the Dublin diocesan seminary and a number of third-level institutions in the city whilst serving as master of ceremonies to the Archbishop of Dublin.

Father Columba entered the novitiate at Glenstal Abbey in 2004 and has held a number of roles including organist, novice master and oblate director as well as serving as a chaplain, choir director and religion teacher in the Abbey School.

In addition to composing a number of hymns and musical pieces for the organ, he has published two books with Veritas Publications: 101 Liturgical Suggestions: Practical Ideas for Those Who Prepare the Liturgy (2014) and Becoming Human, Becoming Divine: The Christian Life According to Blessed Columba Marmion (2024).

The date of Abbot Columba’s Abbatial Blessing by the Archbishop of Cashel and Emly will be announced in due course.

Glenstal Abbey is delighted to invite parents whose sons left our Abbey School ten or more years ago to a Past Parents’ Gala Dinner on Saturday 24th August 2024.

The evening will begin with Afternoon Tea from 4pm and will be followed by Presentations of the Castle, Abbey Library and Icon Restorations, or the Abbey’s Forestry and Green Energy Projects, from 5pm.

Guests are invited to join the monastic community for a service of Sung Evening Prayer at 6pm, after which there will be a Drinks Reception at 7pm before the Gala Dinner begins at 8pm.

The dress code is smart casual and numbers are limited to 150 persons. Local accommodation options can be discussed by telephoning 061 621005.

To RSVP please phone 061 621006 or email events@glenstal.com

Five students from Glenstal Abbey School are currently taking part in an exchange programme at Delbarton, a Benedictine school located at Saint Mary’s Abbey in Morristown, New Jersey, USA.

Each year a number of Glenstal’s Transition Year students travel to Delbarton to take part in a cultural exchange. During their three weeks visit, students attend classes, participate in sports activities, attend cultural events, visit places of interest and spend time living with host families. They are presently accompanied by Mr Kieran Sparling, a member of Glenstal Abbey School’s Board of Management.

This year’s visit to New Jersey is the latest in a two-decades old programme for students of Glenstal and Delbarton. Over the years strong links have been fostered between the two schools and monastic communities, particularly as several monks of both houses have accompanied students back and forth between Ireland and the United States to build links between our educational institutions and monasteries.

The exchange is organised annually by Fr Denis Hooper OSB at Glenstal and Fr Edward Seton Fittin OSB at Delbarton, a school founded by the Benedictine monks of Saint Mary’s Abbey in 1939. The community there enjoys strong and fraternal links with Glenstal, not least as our confrère Fr Alan Crawford OSB entered the monastic life at Saint Mary’s before returning to Ireland to join the monastic community at Glenstal some years ago.

Earlier this week, students attended Mass for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception celebrated by Abbot Jonathan Licari OSB and had the chance to meet the abbot and members of the monastic community after the Mass. The school and monastery at Glenstal look forward to welcoming Delbarton students to Ireland as they make a reciprocal visit in 2024.