Local village is home to Orthodox monastery
Not many people will realise the picturesque village of Shannonbridge is also home to a monastery.
Established back in 2019 by the Romanian Orthodox Church of Ireland, The Monastery of the Life-Giving Spring is a women’s monastery just across the border in Roscommon “dedicated to the Mother of God, its main feast being 'The Life-Giving Spring (celebrated on the Friday after Easter),” according to the organisation's website.
The property, known as Ard Chiaráin was formerly a retreat and prayer centre run by the Catholic Ursuline Order.
The Monastery of the Life-Giving Spring announced the purchase of the site which is home to two nuns on their website in 2020, following a very successful GoFundMe campaign which raised over €200,000 for the project.
“The place we wish to purchase has already been a place of prayer, being a retreat centre belonging to a Catholic religious community, consisting of a complex of seven Scandinavian style wood houses on three acres of land,” Sister Iosifa said at the time on the fundraising page.
The Orthodox community recently submitted plans to Roscommon County Council seeking approval to extend their chapel and make alterations to their base at Raghrabeg, Shannonbridge, just across the Roscommon border, a short distance from the bridge along the Ballinasloe Road.
Located only a few kilometres from Clonmacnoise, the monastery is open to anyone, of any nationality, language, race, or age and the language used during the services will be, depending on the congregation, Romanian and English, with some Greek, Russian, and even Irish, its website adds.
“At the moment the monastery is home to two nuns and welcomes pilgrims throughout the year, subject to availability of places,” the website details, saying that it is also dedicated to St Ciaran of Clonmacnoise, whose feast day falls on September 9, and to all Celtic Saints of Ireland (celebrated on the second Sunday after Pentecost) and to St Prophet Daniel and the Three Youths which is celebrated on December 17.
Established four years ago, the monastery has “the blessing of His Eminence Joseph, Metropolitan of the Romanian Orthodox Metropolis of Southern and Western Europe”.
The planning application in the name The Orthodox Monastery of Life-Giving Spring was lodged on April 24 last and a decision is due from Roscommon County Council by June 18.
At the time of going to press, no documents in relation to the planning application are available on the local authority website to explain further what is proposed.