Waterford abbey to hold special Mass 18 months after conversion to US third-level campus

Mount Melleray Abbey is now the Irish campus of US Catholic University Ave Maria which was founded by former Domino's Pizza owner and founder Tom Monaghan

Mount Melleray Abbey was founded in the 1830s by an Irish-born monk who returned to Ireland from the Cistercians’ monastery in Melleray in France. 

More than 1,000 people are expected at Waterford’s Mount Melleray Abbey next month for a special Mass, almost two years after it closed to the public.

The abbey near Cappoquin closed in January 2025, almost two centuries after it was founded in the 1830s by an Irish-born monk who returned to Ireland from the Cistercians’ monastery in Melleray in France. 

In the final week before its closure, pilgrims flocked to the monastery in the Knockmealdown mountains to participate in Masses there. The abbey is now the Irish campus of US Catholic University Ave Maria, as part of a partnership with the Cistercians.

Mass will be celebrated at the abbey on September 20 by the Bishop of Waterford and Lismore, Alphonsus Cullinan. Guests and donors to the Ave Maria University will attend, and the local community is also invited.

The Florida-based Ave Maria University was founded by former Domino's Pizza owner and founder Tom Monaghan.

It is understood that hundreds of applications were received earlier this year for the chance to study for a semester at the Mount Melleray campus, with the number of applications surpassing the 100 spaces available.

According to the university, more than 1,000 people are expected to attend the Mass at 10.30am on September 20, and attendees are asked to apply on the college’s website.

However, it warns: “As we're expecting over 1,000 guests for this historic event, an RSVP does not guarantee a seat at Mass.” 

In December 2024, the Cistericans announced that Mount Melleray would be closed the following month, after a decision by the monks of Mt Melleray Abbey, Mt St Joseph Abbey in Roscrea, and Mellifont Abbey in Louth to form a union.

The group, to be known as the Abbey of Our Lady of Silence, relocated to Roscrea on a temporary basis before taking up full-time residence in Mellifont Abbey.

On its website, the university advertised the chance to study in Ireland by saying: “Ave Maria University students are invited to step into a fully integrated academic experience at Mount Melleray Abbey, a historic Cistercian monastery and AMU's new international instructional campus. 

"Life at the Abbey campus is selective, welcoming students who are academically prepared, personally responsible, and ready for a transformational semester of prayer, study, work, and adventure.” 

It invites applicants to the “island of saints and scholars” and hosts a short video showing aerial shots of Mount Melleray Abbey interspersed with views of the Cliffs of Moher, grazing sheep, a musician against the backdrop of a rich sunset, and classroom shots.