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Glenstal Abbey

Glenstal Abbey offers students a unique mix of old world charm and state-of-the-art modern facilities. The campus includes a 19th century castle, which houses the dormitories, library and dining hall, and cutting edge modern additions for the classrooms and sports facilities.

Glenstal Abbey is situated on a 500 acre estate featuring streams, lakes and woodland paths, surrounding the 19th century castle built in the Romantic Norman style. The stunningly beautiful woodland and parkland offer unique opportunities for outdoor activities and exploration. There are four rugby pitches, training pitches, soccer pitches and six all-weather tennis courts. The indoor sports hall is used for badminton, basketball and indoor soccer. During the summer term there is a six-lane 400 metre grass track for athletics and a pitch and putt golf course available nearby.

Our Residential Junior Summer Camp has exclusive use of the Glenstal campus and estate, and the abbey accommodates up to 200 students in dorm style rooms. Glenstal’s combination of historic and modern architecture, state-of-the-art classrooms, computing centre and extensive sports facilities make it one of the premier private schools in Ireland.

Course Highlights

  • Students immersed into way of life in a historic Irish Boarding School
  • Students learn new life skills, challenge themselves and gain confidence, respect and independence.
  • Our Ethos is Team Building, International Immersion and Nature Skills
  • High level of academics with progression focused English Language Classes
  • Students live in a safe rural location with full time supervision.
  • Students mix with children from all over the world and have opportunity to mix with Irish teenagers
  • Great choice of extra electives including extra academics, sports and Irish focused classes

 

History of Glenstal Abbey

‘Glenstal’, ‘The Glen of the Stallion’, is an English rendering of the Irish Gleann Stail. The glen itself is an impressive geological feature, consisting of a mile-long valley, formed during the last ice-age, rich in many kinds of wild flowers. The main building is a Norman Revivalist castle. It faces south, and commands an unbroken view of some thirty miles towards the Galtee Mountains.

It was designed by William Bardwell, an English architect, who evidently intended Glenstal to look like a twelfth-century castle, for when he inscribed his name on the turret Bardwell me fecit (‘Bardwell made me’), he added the date 1839, but cut in such a way as to look like 1139. The origins of the current school lie in the small School for Arts and Crafts opened by the founding monks of Glenstal in 1928

 

Academic Facilities

• State of the Art Classrooms

• Science Laboratory

• Music Room

• Computer Rooms

• Library

• Study and Quiet Areas

• WiFi

• Multimedia Centre

 

Residential Facilities

• Modern Dorm Style Rooms catering for 2 – 8 students per dorm

• Large Impressive Dining Room, all catering by Glenstal Abbey Staff on site

• Relaxation Areas • Movie and Theatre Facilities

• Private Lockers for all Students

• Nurses Station and Infirmary

Sports Facilities

• 4 Rugby Pitches

• Soccer Pitches

• 6 All Weather Tennis Courts

• Table Tennis Room

• Indoor Sport Halls with Basketball, Indoor Soccer, Badminton, Volleyball

• All Weather Multi-Purpose Pitches with Floodlight Facilities

• 400 metre 6 lane Athletics Track

• Access to Golf Courses

• A large lake used for many water sports