Mount Saint Joseph’s first foundation was made in 1946 at Nunraw, on the slopes of the Lammermuir mountains, about 25 miles from Edinburgh. Sancta Maria Abbey was the first Cistercian house in Scotland since the Reformation.
Click this link for the Nunraw website www.nunraw.com
Another momentous event occurred in 1954 when a foundation was made in the archdiocese of Melbourne, Australia. Tarrawarra Abbey is in the heart of the Yarra Valley, 60 kilometres north-east of the city of Melbourne, Victoria. Like Mount Saint Joseph, farming is a significant part of working life at Tarrawarra.
Click this link for the Tarrawarra website www.cistercian.org.au
Closer to home, Bolton Abbey in Moone, County Kildare, became Roscrea’s first Irish foundation, in 1965. This came about through the munificence of Dr and Mrs Robert Farnan, and the good offices of Archbishop McQuaid of Dublin.
Click this link for the Bolton Abbey website www.boltonabbey.ie
Mount Saint Joseph furthered its European connections in recent years. The Abbot of Roscrea is the Father Immediate of Tautra Mariakloster in Norway. Seven Cistercian nuns are based on the island of Tautra in central Norway. One of the monks of Mount Saint Joseph Abbey lives at Tautra, acting as the chaplain to this community.
Click this link for the Tautra website www.tautra.no