Nunraw Abbey or Sancta Maria Abbey, Nunraw is a working

Trappist The Trappists, officially known as the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance ( la, Ordo Cisterciensis Strictioris Observantiae, abbreviated as OCSO) and originally named the Order of Reformed Cistercians of Our Lady of La Trappe, are a ...

(''Ordo Cisterciensis Strictioris Observantiae'')

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone ( hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer whic ...

. It was the first

Cistercian The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Sain ...

house to be founded in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...

since the

Scottish Reformation The Scottish Reformation was the process by which Scotland broke with the Papacy and developed a predominantly Calvinist national Kirk (church), which was strongly Presbyterian in its outlook. It was part of the wider European Protestant Refor ...

. Founded in 1946 by monks from

Mount St. Joseph Abbey, Roscrea Mount St. Joseph Abbey is an abbey of the Trappist branch of the Cistercians located in County Offaly, near Roscrea, County Tipperary in Ireland. The abbey was founded in 1878 by a group of 32 monks from Mount Melleray Abbey, County Waterford, ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, and consecrated as an Abbey in 1948, it nestles at the foot of the

Lammermuir Hills The Lammermuirs are a range of hills in southern Scotland, forming a natural boundary between East Lothian and the Borders. The name "Lammermuir" comes from the Old English ''lambra mōr'', meaning "moorland of the lambs". Geology The Lamme ...

on the southern edge of

East Lothian East Lothian (; sco, East Lowden; gd, Lodainn an Ear) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, as well as a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area. The county was called Haddingtonshire until 1921. In 1975, the hi ...

. The estate of the abbey is technically called White Castle after an early hill-fort on the land.

History

Originally owned by the

Cistercian Nuns Cistercian nuns are female members of the Cistercian Order, a religious order belonging to the Roman Catholic branch of the Catholic Church. History The first Cistercian monastery for women, Le Tart Abbey, was established at Tart-l'Abbaye in the ...

of Haddington, the area that they settled becoming known as Nunraw (lit. 'Nun's Row'). The Nunnery of Haddington was founded by

Ada de Warenne Ada de Warenne (or Adeline de Varenne) ( 1120 – 1178) was the Anglo-Norman wife of Henry of Scotland, Earl of Northumbria and Earl of Huntingdon. She was the daughter of William de Warenne, 2nd Earl of Surrey by Elizabeth of Vermandois, an ...

, Countess of Huntingdon and daughter of the

Earl of Surrey Earl of Surrey is a title in the Peerage of England that has been created five times. It was first created for William de Warenne, a close companion of William the Conqueror. It is currently held as a subsidiary title by the Dukes of Norfolk ...

, soon after the death of

Bernard of Clairvaux Bernard of Clairvaux, Cistercians, O. Cist. ( la, Bernardus Claraevallensis; 109020 August 1153), venerated as Saint Bernard, was an abbot, Mysticism, mystic, co-founder of the Knights Templars, and a major leader in the reformation of the Bened ...

, and the small evidence that is available suggests that Nunraw was a

grange Grange may refer to: Buildings * Grange House, Scotland, built in 1564, and demolished in 1906 * Grange Estate, Pennsylvania, built in 1682 * Monastic grange, a farming estate belonging to a monastery Geography Australia * Grange, South Austr ...

of that convent. The modern monastery was built between 1952 and 1970 (but is unfinished as the abbey church was never built) by architect Peter Rice Whiston (1912-1999).

List of Abbots

The modern establishment has had four Lord Abbots since its inception: * Father Michael Sherry, O.C.S.O. (d. 2003) Superior of the foundation between 1946 and its inauguration in 1948. Father Michael was the Prior, never the abbot. Nunraw was elevated from a priory to an abbey in 1948, Dom Columban Mulcahy being the first abbot. * Dom

Columban Mulcahy Columbanus ( ga, Columbán; 543 – 21 November 615) was an Irish missionary notable for founding a number of monasteries after 590 in the Frankish and Lombard kingdoms, most notably Luxeuil Abbey in present-day France and Bobbio Abbey in ...

, O.C.S.O. (1900-1971), Lord Abbot between 1948 and 1969 * Dom Donald McGlynn, O.C.S.O., Abbot-''emeritus'' and Lord Abbot between 1969 and 2003, a "Chief" of the

Igbo people The Igbo people ( , ; also spelled Ibo" and formerly also ''Iboe'', ''Ebo'', ''Eboe'', * * * ''Eboans'', ''Heebo''; natively ) are an ethnic group in Nigeria. They are primarily found in Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, and Imo States. A ...

in Nigeria. * Dom

Raymond Jaconelli Raymond is a male given name. It was borrowed into English from French (older French spellings were Reimund and Raimund, whereas the modern English and French spellings are identical). It originated as the Germanic ᚱᚨᚷᛁᚾᛗᚢᚾᛞ ( ...

, O.C.S.O., Lord Abbot from 2003 to 2009 * Dom

Mark Caira Mark may refer to: Currency * Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina * East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic * Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927 * Finn ...

, O.C.S.O., Lord Abbot from 2009

References

External links

Website of Sancta Maria Abbey, Nunraw
* ttp://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=809222003 Dom Donald McGlynn's elevation to the chieftaincy of the Igbo {{DEFAULTSORT:Sancta Maria Abbey, Nunraw Listed monasteries in Scotland Trappist monasteries in the United Kingdom Cistercian monasteries in Scotland Christian organizations established in 1946 1946 establishments in Scotland Buildings and structures in East Lothian

History

List of Abbots

See also

References

External links