February 13th saw a momentous occasion here as the Abbess Máire Hickey laid the first brick of the new Monastery. The Benedictine Community is at the heart of Kylemore Abbey since 1920. Their centenary year is being marked with this exciting project.  The 14-month building programme of phase 1 is due to be completed on Dec 4th; 100 years since the arrival of the Sisters to Kylemore. The new Monastery is the most significant milestone of the past century at Kylemore- it is the first female Benedictine monastery to be built in Ireland in over 400 years. Today the community consists of 10 nuns who also welcome long-term monastic quests from abroad- including Britain, the US, Canada, ...