The founders of Limerick and Clonard had clearly the apostolate of the enclosed retreat in mind when founding these monasteries.  Thus, in a printed appeal for financial help dated 1st February 1860, it was stated that the new convent of Saint Alphonsus had "some twenty apartments fitted up for priests and laymen desirous of performing the Spiritual Exercises".  Six years later under the dates 11 - 16 December, the house chronicles of Limerick noted, "a retreat is given in our new domestic chapel by Fr. Minister (Harbison) to about 40 lay gentlemen of whom 18 lodged and boarded in the house.  This is the first general retreat given to laymen in our house".  Other retreats followed, but the practice was discontinued on account of falling numbers.

As for Clonard, Fr. Patrick Griffith, the founder, described the monastery as a place in which "the nominal number of inmates would be 18 or 20 persons and to which large numbers of gentlemen from every par of the country will come to sojourn from time to time every year."  No lay retreats were held in Clonard until the early nineteen twenties when several day retreats were given mainly to members of the Saint Vincent de Paul Society and at their request.

A few years before (December 1921) the first retreat house in Ireland "for working men" was opened by the Jesuits at Rathfarnham Castle, County Dublin.  It was a great success.  This fact no doubt influenced the drawing up of a plan during the Rectorship of Father Willie Treacy, 1927-1930, for the building of an extension to Clonard Monastery for enclosed retreats to men.  It was submitted to the Provincial, but nothing came of it.  It is worth noting however that from the time of the building of Clonard and Limerick houses the diocesan clergy came to them every year for· their retreat, and continued to do so until the Retreat Houses were opened.

Dundalk: 1939 - 1954

During the war years and immediately after there was a growing interest in the enclosed retreat movement.  Retreats for men were held in Dundalk 1939 - 1954 and attended by 300 to 400 each year.  As the monastery in Dundalk could not provide residential accommodation the retreatants came on a Saturday evening for the opening of the retreat at 7.00 o’clock and then about 9.00 o’clock went home.  They returned the following morning about 8.00 o’clock and remained there until the conclusion of the retreat at 8.00 p.m.

Ardglass: 1946 - 1960

During the years 1943 - 1945 when Father T.J. Regan was Rector of Clonard, about 600 men and boys made day retreats in the monastery.  In a pastoral letter of 1945 Bishop Mageean of Down and Connor expressed his pleasure at the growing interest in the enclosed retreat movement and recommended it to all.

Finally, in 1946, Father Hugo Kerr, the Provincial, asked Father Gerard Reynolds then Rector of Clonard to approach Bishop Mageean and get his permission for a Retreat House for men in the vicinity of Belfast.

The Bishop gladly gave permission and suggested we purchase Garron Tower in County Antrim for the purpose, hoping thus to keep it from becoming a Doctor Barnardo Home.  The site chosen, however, was King's Castle in Ardglass, County Down.  It had been purchased by the parish priest, Father McKee, lest it fall into Protestant hands.  He sold it to the Redemptorists for £4,000.

On the feast of St. Gerard, 1946, the first community in Ardglass took up residence, namely, Fathers James Scott and James Molloy, and Brothers Clement Sheerin, Matthew McMonagle and Joachim Murphy.  Father John Gorey was appointed Director of Retreats.  The first Superior (1947-1950) was Father Joseph Wright.  The new foundation was put under the patronage of St. Clement.

Fruitful Years

The first retreat in St. Clement's was a day retreat made by 162 men of the parish of Dunsford and Ardglass and conducted by Fr. G. Reynolds.

In memory of this happy event the retreatants presented the community with a handsome de Burgo chalice; Father John Gorey gave himself wholeheartedly and with great success to the building up of a flourishing retreat movement.  Week after week he went from parish to parish to awaken interest in the new venture.  Sermons and lectures were given by him.  A half-hour long film entitled "A Weekend with God" was shown in parish halls and commercial cinemas.  This film was the work of George Lodge, an English Freemason, and given to Fr. Gorey as a free gift.

In 1948, Fr. Gorey and Fr. G. Reynolds went to Holland to study the flourishing retreat movement in that country.

The first annual report for 1947 recorded nearly 1,000 retreatants.  The number steadily increased until the final year when it reached the record number of 4,750.  The last weekend retreat was given on 11th December 1960, to members of the Dockers' Branch of the I.T. & G.W.U.

St . Clement's Retreat House, Ardglass, formally ceased to exist on 18th December 1960, when St. Clement's Retreat House, 722 Antrim Road was born.  The Ardglass community with its Superior was transferred to a house already formed with its own Rector, Father James Reynolds, and its own specific work, that of running St. Gerard's Church.  This arrangement was an unhappy one that could not last long.

In the thirteen years at Ardglass 50,000 men made retreats.  The demise of the foundation was deeply regretted by many men who loved to go there every year.  The beauty and peace of the surroundings made them gladly endure the inconveniences of large numbers in a cramped area and makeshift buildings.  However, the change to the Antrim Road and the City was considered well worthwhile.

Belfast: 1961

Though our Belfast Retreat House was not opened until 1961 moves to establish it had begun a full decade before.  Fr, Gerard McDonnell who was appointed Rector of Clonard in 1950 was responsible for these.  Long afterwards he wrote;

"When I saw Ardglass for the first time in September 1950 I did not like it as a Retreat House.  I felt that the old Castle would always cost money to keep in repair and remain uninviting.  There and then I decided I would work towards a Retreat House in Belfast … I asked the Novena Congregations (in Clonard) to pray for Father Rector's intentions without specifying what they were.  They were a Retreat House within the city limits and overlooking the Lough ..."

He got such a site.  It was on the lower slopes of Cavehill, the property of an Englishwoman whose husband Major Addley, a North of Ireland Freemason, had died a short time before leaving her financially embarrassed.  Father Michael Curran, the Provincial, inspected the property and approved of its purchase for a Retreat House.  The house and 33½ acres, mostly woodland, were acquired for £13,500.

Fr. Curran deputed Fr. McDonnell to ask permission, not only for a Retreat House, but also for a Church on the front of the Antrim Road and a monastery for a community to serve the Church and do some mission work.  The Bishop and Chapter unanimously approved, Dr. Mageean saying that he had long wanted to see a Catholic Church on the front of the Antrim Road.  The Church of St. Gerard was built first, and was blessed by Bishop Mageean on December 9, 1956.

The Retreat House was built 1959-1960, the builders being P. Carvill & Sons and the Contractor J.J. Brennan.  The cost was nearly £100,000.  It was the first Retreat House in Ireland to have so many rooms for retreatants - 110 of them, all separate.  The first Director of Retreats was Fr. M.J. Connolly, who later became Superior of the Community when it was declared independent of St. Gerard's and called St. Clement's.  The first retreat was given to some 70 men of the men's Holy Family Confraternity (Clonard), 4th–6th February 1961.  The new St. Clement's was solemnly blessed by Dr. Mageean on 9th September 1961. On 17th January following Bishop Mageean died.  Without his generous permission and encouragement there would have been no Retreat House or Church.

The building of the retreat house chapel began in January 1966.  Great difficulties were experienced in getting a secure foundation.  So while the chapel was built, other extension projects, e.g. a special residence for the community, had to be abandoned.  The Chapel was opened on 9th June 1967.

The Brothers, who were very few in number, were replaced by Religious Sisters, first the Sisters of Providence in 1964, then the Sisters of the Congregation of the Sacred Heart in August 1966.  August 1965 marked another landmark when the first women retreatants came for a weekend to St. Clement's.  The number of retreatants each year remained fairly even until the late sixties when it reached a high point.  In 1968 it was a record 6,000.  Of these 696 were women, 843 were school retreatants, and 232 were priests and brothers.

Limerick: 1954

It was in the parlour of the Ardglass Retreat House that the idea of a Retreat House for Limerick originated.  In 1953, Mr. Michael Phayer, a well-known Limerick Confraternity man, visited Father John Gorey.  They discussed the question of a gift by the citizens of Limerick to the Redemptorists for their coming centenary.  Fr, Gorey suggested a Retreat House for men.  The idea was welcomed.  A committee was formed which included the Mayor A. Carew, A. Sexton, a prominent Auctioneer, and M. Roche, a businessman.

A house in the North Circular Road, the property of the Tidmarsh family (related to Father Peter Paul Murray, former Director of the Irish Juvenate) and later owned by the Protestant Bishop, was purchased by the citizens of Limerick and presented to 'the Fathers' (as the Redemptorists are colloquially known in Limerick) to serve as a Retreat House.  It cost £7,000.  Fr. Gerard Reynolds (senior), now Rector in Mount St. Alphonsus as, had much to do with arrangements for the purchase and furnishing and readjusting of the house to make it suitable for its new purpose.

In the spring of 1956 the debt on the house had reached £18,000 to meet which £3,000 was available, the total contribution until then of the citizens of Limerick.  A new fund-raising campaign, however, succeeded in paying the total debt.

The first Superior was Fr. John Whyte who was replaced in 1956 by Fr. Dan Cummings.  The first enclosed retreat was given to 22 men in October 1954. by Fathers Whyte and Dan Murphy.  Benediction was given by the Bishop, Dr. Patrick O’Neill.

In 1960-1961 a new retreat house with chapel was built by a Limerick contractor and officially blessed by Bishop Murphy of Limerick on 27th September 1961.  This house was a beautiful and modern structure.  It was a real Hotel Europa, the name Fr. Whyte liked to give it.  It could accommodate 90 retreatants.  The old house was converted into a community residence for the Redemptorists.  With time the number of retreatants increased steadily.

P.S.

In the 1980s the Redemptorists had to take a long hard look at their situation in the light of a declining and aging membership and even though the work in the retreat house continued to flourish the hard decision was taken to withdraw.  Thus, after just thirty-four years in operation the retreat house was closed in 1988.

Galway: 1968

In the summer of 1968 the theological students were transferred from Cluain Mhuire to Dublin.  This left half of Cluain Mhuire an empty house.  Rather than leave it so it was suggested, with the enthusiastic approval of Fr. John Whyte, the Provincial, that the empty house be used as a Retreat House for men.  The Bishop of Galway, Dr. Browne, agreed but would not allow a community of nuns help with the material side of the work as in Belfast and Limerick.

First Retreat – 17th November 1968.  Number of retreatants : 81.  First Director of Retreats (until March 1970) - Father Vincent Kavanagh.

P.S.

As mentioned above the retreat house was once the residence of the Redemptorist studendate (seminary).  After the transfer of the theology students to Dublin in 1968 the philosophy students continued to reside there but as the years rolled by the number of new entrants dwindled.  Among other things the upkeep of such a large property, to a great part under utilised, was prohibitive and the so after fifty years in the “City of the Tribes” the sad decision to withdraw from Galway was taken, which resulted in the closing of the Cluain Mhuire Retreat House.

Esker, Athenry: 1971

In September 1970 the Novitiate, which had been located in Esker since 1949, was suspended for three years.  It was considered desirable that the empty house should be put to good use.  A Retreat House for women was suggested and enthusiastically followed up by Father Patrick Clancy, the Rector of Esker, who had experience of retreats for men in St. Clement's Belfast.  The Bishop of Clonfert, Dr. Thomas Ryan, welcomed the proposal.  An incentive for such a Retreat House was given by numerous requests from women in the West of Ireland who welcomed the Retreat House for men but regretted that there was none comparable for women.

(A retreat house for women existed in Furboe, County Galway, but it catered for only a small number and lacked organisation.  Its impact in the West was very small.)

The proposal that we start a retreat house for women was strongly opposed by a few confreres on the grounds that it was entirely against our tradition.  Others thought that we could not afford the manpower to start still another Retreat House.

A sine qua non for a Retreat House for women was the co-operation of a community of nuns.  Fortunately, such a community was found.  Four Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, already serving in St. Clement’s, Belfast, came to Esker and made a major contribution to the work of the Esker Retreat House.

The new Retreat House was officially opened and blessed by Bishop Ryan of Clonfert on 19th September 1971.  The first Director of Retreats was Fr. Patrick Clancy and the first retreat was given on 22nd August 1971.

Patrick O’Donnell, C.Ss.R.

SEARCH, No. 5, Easter 1979