Geographical Areas

NAME OF THE LOCAL AREA
Glenstal Abbey Estate

COUNTRY
Ireland

CITY
Murroe, Co. Liemrick

THEMATIC AREA
Geography, Chemistry, Biology, Geology

WEB SITE
http://www.glenstal.org/about-us/history-of-glenstal/

DESCRIPTION OF THE LOCAL AREA
Glenstal Abbey School is situated in Murroe, Co. Limerick. Glenstal is south facing and has an excellent view of the Galtee Mountains. It is on an estate of around 500 acres (2.0 km2), of which some is farmland, forestry, games fields, lakes, gardens and school and monastery buildings.

The Abbey grounds contain a great variety of trees and flowers, mostly planted during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries by the Barrington Family. There are also five artificial lakes, mostly stocked with trout and one of which pupils may swim in during the summer months.

The Abbey grounds contain a great variety of trees and flowers, mostly planted during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Most impressive of all are the Rhododendrons, which flower in great profusion during the months of May and June. Also worth noting are the fine oak trees which are said to be in some cases specimens of the primeval oak forest which once covered most of Ireland. These can be seen as you drive up the front avenue. Among these oak trees is the famous Ilchester Oak, on the left of the avenue, opposite the first lake. There are five artificial lakes in the grounds, mostly stocked with trout. For some years now the property has been a wild-life sanctuary.

As one part of their commitment to sustainable and environmentally aware development, the Community chose to use geothermal energy to provide heat for new buildings and to begin displacing some oil fired heating to existing buildings.

Source heat for the geothermal system is taken from Chapel Lake, a small water body formed by damming a stream on the grounds. The water is pumped a distance of more than 300 metres to the plantroom and then returned to the opposite end of the lake. Since the main source of the water is runoff from the watershed the system in effect uses the solar energy absorbed by this area. The volume of the lake ensures that there is collectable energy available even during dry times or cold snaps.

The geothermal system supplies up to 150 kW of heat to a combination of underfloor heating units, cast iron radiators and other emitters in several parts of the complex.

The high level of design innovation embodied in the Glenstal system was recognised by Sustainable Energy Ireland who awarded it the Public Building Thermal Energy Award 2005.

The monks run a commercial dairy farm on the lands surrounding the monastery. With a herd of around 80 milking cows, the farm aims for best practice in milk quality and production, animal welfare, sustainability and care for the environment. The milk is processed locally for drinking or for making cheese or butter.

Visitors will be interested in the seventeenth century Italian-style, walled terraced garden, which was laid out between 1679 and 1681. The man responsible for the garden was Joseph Stepney, a younger brother of Sir John Stepney, the 3rd Baronet, of Pembrokeshire, Wales. There is a similar terraced garden in the Stepney estate in Wales, and one can only conclude that Joseph wished to emulate this Welsh garden, when he settled in Co. Limerick about the year 1670. Within the last ten to fifteen years, the Glenstal terraced garden has been restored to its original splendour. All this was made possible thanks to our neighbour, Mrs. Angela Coffey, who with a committee of local people, succeeded in getting An Taisce to point the walls and re-surface the paths.

A further enhancement of the garden has been undertaken in recent years by Fr. Brian Murphy. One special feature is the Bible Garden, laid out on the Third Upper terrace. This was the first of its kind in Ireland, and combines a large variety of herbs, plants, vegetables, flowers and trees, which are named in the Bible. Fr. Brian sought and received the advice of Dr. Charles Nelson of the Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin, Dublin, and Dr. Nigel Hepper, of Kew Gardens, London. The terraced garden is a world apart, a valuable piece of local history, spanning as it does over three centuries, as alive and beautiful to-day, as it was when Joseph Stepney laid it out in 1679.

Fr. Brian is presently restoring the Ladies’ Garden, which is situated near the monastery cemetery. Laid out by the Barringtons in the middle of the nineteenth century, it had been neglected in recent years. Hopefully it will soon be back to its original appearance.