Mount Saint Mary’s Abbey is a monastic

Monastery

Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...

 community of some fifty Trappistine

Trappists

The Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance , or Trappists, is a Roman Catholic religious order of cloistered contemplative monks who follow the Rule of St. Benedict...

 nun

Nun

A nun is a woman who has taken vows committing her to live a spiritual life. She may be an ascetic who voluntarily chooses to leave mainstream society and live her life in prayer and contemplation in a monastery or convent...

s in Wrentham

Wrentham, Massachusetts

Wrentham is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 10,955 at the 2010 census.- History :Wrentham was first settled by the English in 1660 and officially incorporated in 1673. It was burned down during King Philip's War 1675-1676. For a short time, it was the...

, Massachusetts

Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

. The more complete, formal name of the Order

Religious order

A religious order is a lineage of communities and organizations of people who live in some way set apart from society in accordance with their specific religious devotion, usually characterized by the principles of its founder's religious practice. The order is composed of initiates and, in some...

 is the Cistercians of the Strict Observance (O.C.S.O.), whose founding at Cîteaux, France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

  dates back to 1098. This community follows the reforms of the Cistercian Order as established by the 17th-century Abbot

Abbot

The word abbot, meaning father, is a title given to the head of a monastery in various traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not actually the head of a monastery...

 Armand de Rancé at the Abbey of La Grande Trappe.

This community was founded in 1949 by nuns of an Irish

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

 monastery, St. Mary’s Abbey

St. Mary's Abbey, Glencairn

Mount Saint Mary's Abbey is a monastic community of nuns located in County Waterford in Ireland. The community belongs to the Trappist branch of the Cistercian order, thus the nuns are commonly referred to as Trappistines. The original community of this monastic tradition had been welcomed to...

, located in Glencairn

Glencairn

Glencairn may refer to:* Glencairn, Belfast, an electoral ward in Belfast, Northern Ireland* Glencairn, or John Erwin House, on the National Register of Historic Places in Greensboro, Alabama...

, County Waterford

County Waterford

*Abbeyside, Affane, Aglish, Annestown, An Rinn, Ardmore*Ballinacourty, Ballinameela, Ballinamult, Ballinroad, Ballybeg, Ballybricken, Ballyduff Lower, Ballyduff Upper, Ballydurn, Ballygunner, Ballylaneen, Ballymacarbry, Ballymacart, Ballynaneashagh, Ballysaggart, Ballytruckle, Bilberry, Bunmahon,...

. It was the first community of Cistercians nuns in the United States. The foundation was so successful that, by the mid-1950s, all of the Irish nuns had been recalled to their original community.

Following the standard need of self-support, this community developed as their main means of income a line of candy for which they are noted.. Recently the abbey had some wind turbines built, as part of their effort to help in their fuel needs and at being better stewards of the environment

Natural environment

The natural environment encompasses all living and non-living things occurring naturally on Earth or some region thereof. It is an environment that encompasses the interaction of all living species....

.

New communities of the Order were founded by this abbey in Iowa

Iowa

Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...

 (Our Lady of the Mississippi Abbey

Our Lady of the Mississippi Abbey

The Our Lady of the Mississippi Abbey is located near Dubuque, Iowa. The nuns there are members of the Order of the Cistercian Strict Observance , part of the Catholic Church in the Archdiocese of Dubuque. The current Abbess is Sr...

, 1964), Arizona

Arizona

Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...

 (1972) and Virginia

Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

(1987).