Mount St. Joseph Abbey, Roscrea


Mount St. Joseph Abbey is an abbey of the Trappist branch of the Cistercians located in County Offaly, near Roscrea, County Tipperary in Ireland.
The abbey was founded in 1878 by a group of 32 monks from Mount Melleray Abbey, County Waterford. The church was opened for worship in 1883 and a Boarding school - Cistercian College, Roscrea - was founded in 1905. The first superior was Dom Athanasius O'Donovan.
Mount St. Joseph contains several stained glass windows created by Harry Clarke or his studios. Three windows in the infirmary, three later windows in the chapel of the college and a 1960s window dedicated to St. Patrick for the abbey church.
Three foundations have been made from Mount Saint Joseph - Nunraw in 1946, Tarrawarra in 1954, and Bolton in 1964.
The Nationalist, Home Rule supporting MP the Catholic, Count Arthur John Moore who donated the six hundred-acre property, and buildings to the Cistercians, where the Abbey and College is, is buried in Mount St Josephs.

Abbots