THE Benedictine monks of Glenstal Abbey have elected Fr Brendan Coffey to serve as Abbot for a period of eight years.
He is the sixth Abbot of Glenstal, and succeeds Abbot Mark Patrick Hederman who held the office since 2008.
The election was presided over by the Abbot-President of the Congregation of the Annunciation, the family of monasteries to which Glenstal belongs.
Born in Ennis in 1970, Joseph Coffey was ordained a priest of the diocese of Killaloe in 1995 after studies in Maynooth and Rome.
After ordination, he pursued postgraduate studies in Canon Law at the Gregorian University in Rome, after which he was appointed curate in the parish of Kilrush.
He entered Glenstal in 1998, taking the name Brendan. He professed simple vows in 1999 and made his solemn profession in 2002.
Following his time working in the abbey school as a housemaster and teacher of Classics, Fr Brendan spent two years in Padua, Italy, doing postgraduate studies in Liturgy. On his return to Glenstal he served as Prior of the monastery from 2007 to 2015.
Abbot Brendan’s formal Abbatial Blessing will take place after the current renovation works in the abbey church have been completed. He takes office immediately.
by Alan Jacques
