Lady Marina Beaumont 1665-1682:

Lady Marina belonged to the community of Ghent. The Bishop of Ypres (Belgium) asked her to found a Community in Ypres and gave her a house. Five members of the Ghent Community accompanied her to Ypres. At first all went well with the new foundation, but there was difficulty in attracting novices, and nuns len t from other houses did not remain. On Lady Marina's death in 1682, only two nuns were still in the house, one being Lady Flavia Carey.

Lady Flavia Carey 1682 - 1686:

The Lady Abbess of Ghent had always intended that Ypres should be an Irish Abbey, and she requested that Irish nuns be sent to Ypres to elect an Abbess. Lady Flavia was elected and she is recognized as the first abbess of the Irish Community. Lady Flavia Carey was the first, who jointly with the Communities of Ghent, Pontoise and Dunkerque (Dunkirk), gave this house to the Irish for a refuge and to keep it as such.

Lady Joseph Butler 1686 - 1723:

On the death of Lady Flavia Carey, Lady Joseph Butler was elected. A cousin of the Duke of Ormond, she was the first Irish Abbess. In 1688 James II, a great benefactor of the Community, invited her to Dublin to found an Irish monastery there, and gave her a house in Great Ship Street. In 1690. after the defeat of James II at the Battle of the Boyne, she returned to Ypres. For the next 5 years she lived with just four nuns in extreme poverty and was advised to dissolve the monastery and join another community. But she persevered, was given financial assistance from Pope Innocent XII, the King of France and Queen Mary of Moderna, and the Community lived on. She died in 1723, the first and greatest of the Irish Abbess of Ypres.

Lady Abbess Xaveria Arthur:

Lady Arthur was Abbess Butler's first novice after the return to Ypres. She was elected Abbess on the death of Abbess Butler, and held the office until she died in 1743.

Lady Magdalen Mandeville:

Lady Mandeville succeeded Lady Arthur. During these two abbacies, the Community suffered great hardships - poverty, trials and afflictions were their daily lot. So much so that the Community seriously thought of leaving Ypres and transferring to the French King's dominions, but this was abandoned and the Community struggled on. Lady Mandeville died in 1760.

Lady Bernard Dalton:

Lady Dalton was elected in 1760 and during her time numbers increased and conditions improved. She had a great devotion to the Sacred Heart. This devotion has enjoyed a long tradition in the Community, which claims to have been the first to introduce the devotion to Flanders.

Lady Scholastica Lynch:

On the death of Abbess Dalton in 1783 Lady Scholastica Lynch was elected. In 1793 soldiers of the French Republican Army invaded the house. On hearing that the General of the army was an Irishman, she sent word to tell him of the conditions and asked for help. He withdrew the soldiers and paid compensation for the damage they had caused. In 1794 the French again took possession of the town and ordered all the religious orders to leave. Being foreigners they were able to hold on, but were continually harassed by the army. In the midst of such intimidation, Abbess Lynch died, in 1799.

Lady Bernard Lynch:

After Abbess Scholastica died, her sister, Lady Bernard was elected. Near the end of 1799, the nuns were ordered to leave, and the house was sold over their heads. They were forced out, but just as they were leaving on 13th November, a violent storm prevented them from going. Next day the Government changed and they were able to stay, but they had to buy back the house and once again were reduced to extreme poverty. Despite such poverty, the Divine Office and the Rule of St Benedict was always maintained and they were able to boast that during the whole reign of terror they performed the Divine Office with an exactitude worthy of their order. By 1810 conditions had improved greatly. Abbess Bernard died in 1830.

Lady Benedict Byrne:

Lady Byrne succeeded Abbess Lynch and was the last Irish abbess at Ypres. The unstable political situation during her years of office caused many difficulties, but she guided the Community through them all. She died in 1840.

Lady Winifred Jarrett:

Abbess Jarrett was the only English abbess, apart from Lady Flavia Carey, to have been elected. During her time the monastery building had deteriorated badly and Abbess Jarrett took upon herself to build a new one, which was finished in 1886. Abbess Jarrett resigned in 1885 as she was no longer competent and though she kept the title, the administration was handed over to the Prioress Scholastica Bergé. Abbess Jarrett died in 1890.

Lady Scholastica Bergé:

Abbess Bergé was elected abbess in 1890. She was a Belgian, but fully in sympathy with Ireland and the Irish. Under her the Community prospered and she arranged that they recite the Benedictine Office instead of the Roman Office in use until then. In 1912 she suffered a stroke which left her unable to speak and partially paralyzed. The Prioress, Dame Maura Ostyn took over the responsibility of running the Community. In 1914 war broke out, and during the bombardment of Ypres that year the Community had to leave the town. After many adventures, they arrived at Oulton Abbey in England, and eventually got to Macmine Castle in County Wexford, Ireland in 1916. Abbess Bergé died in 1916 at Macmine.

Lady Maura Ostyn:

Elected in 1916, she was another Belgian. She had the hard task of organising the journey from Ypres to England and to Ireland and was to be the abbess who would finally bring the Community to Kylemore. Unable to return to Ypres, and finding Macmine Castle unsuitable for their needs, Abbess Ostyn searched the country for a suitable property and found Kylemore and an archbishop who would welcome them to the diocese. This outstanding woman died in 1940.

Abbess Druhan, a native of County Wexford, had been a pupil in the school at Ypres and entered there. She was elected in 1941. Under her rule the Community prospered and increased in numbers. She died in 1953.

Abbess Finnegan was elected in 1953. She too was a past pupil of the school. Elected at the young age of 36 special permission had to be obtained from Rome: she was the youngest Abbess in Europe. Abbess Finnegan was the last of the life abbesses and retired in 1981.

Since then abbess have been elected for six year terms and to date have been:

Abbess Mechtilde Moloney, 1981 - 1987

Abbess Mary O'Toole, 1987 - 1994

Abbess Clare Morley, 1994 - 2001

Abbess Magdalena FitzGibbon, 2001 -