About Us

History

Within a few years of St. Francis’ death in 1226 the Franciscans were in Ireland. Their spirit of dedication to the gospel, penance and respect for creation and harmonious relations with the whole family of creatures all touched a chord in the Irish psyche.  In 1474 we made a foundation in Donegal Town.  With the subsequent destruction of the abbey in 1601, we entered an unsettled period when we were forced to take refuge in various places, even ministering in Lough Derg during penal times.

Midway through the 19th century Donegal saw the last of the Franciscans, though their memory lived on in its folklore, its place-names and in the hearts of its people; but the land had not been broken.  In 1946, two years after the tercentenary celebrations of Bro. Michael O’Cleary OM who had compiled the Annals of the Four Masters “by the River Drowes,” the friars returned to the diocese of Raphoe in response to the invitation from Bishop McNeely.  The Church was blessed and dedicated on 29th June, 1952.

Prominent among the ministries here is the constant availability of friars for reconciliation, counselling and prayer.

Reconciliation and healing are constant themes especially on the first Sunday of each month.  Devotions to St. Anthony on Tuesday and to Padre Pio on Thursday are also very popular.

Down through the years the whole complex has been developed with this in mind, and the many beautiful shrines and gardens were built and cultivated not merely for decorative purposes but to aid people to find the peace of God and the God of peace in the beauty of this place.

Just as each of the various features of the grounds plays its own part in influencing visitors, so many friars and others over the years have contributed to the ethos and spiritual influence that is often experienced here now.  In establishing a friary at Rossnowlagh, it was the aim of the Franciscans to provide a place where people could come to pray and find peace.

Due to the situation in the north in recent decades and the location being so close to the border, the Irish Province decided in 1990 to designate the Rossnowlagh community to a special ministry of Peace and Reconciliation, as St. Francis himself was the instrument of Peace and Reconciliation where there was conflict, brokenness, vulnerability, fear or rejection.