Sound of silence

THEY live a hidden life of prayer, penance, and perpetual adoration behind closed doors, following a deeply religious way of life which has remained largely unchanged since the 13th century.

But as the Poor Clare Colettines, the enclosed order of contemplative nuns, marked the 800th anniversary of their foundation last night, the sisters living in the Cork monastery took their first tentative steps into the world of social media.

Known to most as the Poor Clares, they said it was a community decision to set up their own dedicated website, and to allow video cameras in to their College Rd monastery to record their Sunday rosary and benediction, clips which are available on YouTube.