Glenstal Abbey, one of the most prestigious schools for boys in the country, has announced it will shut its doors in two years’ time.
The Benedictine community at the 500-acre scenic abbey in Murroe, Co Limerick, where the school is co-located, announced the decision on Friday evening, saying it had “not been made suddenly, nor has it been made lightly”.
Fr Columba McCann OSB, Abbot of Glenstal, said the monks were “deeply saddened” by what he termed as an “unavoidable” decision to close no later than August 2028.
Glenstal Abbey
In a statement, he said the abbey had “wrestled” with the future of the school for many years.
“During that time, we have sought to support it financially, to strengthen enrolment and to consider whether changes to the school’s model could secure a sustainable future,” he said.
But he said the environment in which Glenstal Abbey School was operating had changed “significantly” and demand for boarding education had declined, while the cost of operating a small boarding school and providing the quality of education, care and facilities expected had continued to rise.
A detailed external assessment of the school had confirmed that Glenstal was not sustainable into the future.
Glenstal currently operates as both a boarding school and a day school for roughly 200 boys at secondary level.
Current fees for the school range from €14,950 per annum for day pupils, to €21,500 for five-day boarders and €24,000 for full boarders, while international students pay €25,950 if they are Europeans and €29,150 if they are from outside the EU.
Fr McCann acknowledged the “shock” of many families with students currently attending the school over the news. He said there are plans in place to support students and their families as well as staff during “this time of change”.
“Our immediate focus is on supporting students, maintaining stability and ensuring that the remainder of the academic year continues as positively as possible,” he added.
For now, the school’s trustees have said that all students will continue their education at the school as normal in the current academic year, ending in June 2027.
For the academic year 2027/2028, the monks say their intention is to allow current second- and fifth-year students to complete their junior and senior cycles.
It is apparent that the school will have already closed when current first years will be doing their Junior Cert and current transition year students are doing their Leaving Cert.