20th to the 23rd October.

A number of retreat options are being provided for students to allow for different interests and approaches. All of the retreats have a spiritual dimension at their core. You are asked to choose the retreat option which best matches your interests. Please rank all the options in order of preference. Number 1 being your first preference and so on.

Lourdes
Students who were in Lourdes are regarded as having been on retreat and are free to study during these days. Please indicate you were in Lourdes on the Retreat Option sheet.

Group Dynamic
This retreat enables students to come to know one another in the context of friendship.
The only requirement is a willingness to know others, to talk honestly and listen attentively. The aim is to help students to relate to one another beyond the superficial level of everyday engagement and to appreciate the forces in ourselves and others which prevent honest communication. This option is sometimes intense but hugely rewarding.

Mount Melleray
The Cistercian Abbey, Waterford, is the location for this retreat. Students are invited to join the monks as they pray and sing the divine office. The prayer of the monks, the silence of the monastery and the wilderness of the countryside are evocative of God’s presence in the world. The monastic tradition provides an insight into a life that is dedicated to a prayerful relationship with God. Students will stay in the abbey and have the opportunity to speak with some of the monks.

Glendalough
Glendalough is an early Christian monastic site was founded by St. Kevin in the 6th century. Days are structured around Taize style prayer –morning, midday and evening-and time is spent reflecting on the wonders of God’s creation and on our being part of creation. Part of each day is spent in solitude and quiet. The group lives as a community, joining together in prayer and the work involved in catering for the group. It is a time to reflect on your life, hopes for the future, relationship with God and a time in a very busy year to simply “chill out”.
A.M.D.G

Celtic Spirituality
The Celts found their god in the nature that surrounded them. On this retreat you will spend time looking at where you are at present in your life and then looking to the future-a future that will be made much easier if you allow God to be with you. Whether walking around the monastic city in Glendalough or exploring the beautiful countryside there will be plenty of time for reflection.
Students live as a community sharing in the day to day tasks involved. There will be opportunities for prayer, written reflection but most of all a chance to deepen your relationship with God.

Calm in the Storm
This retreat aims to provide students with an opportunity to “take stock” at this stage of their lives. The pace of the Leaving Certificate year is slowed for three days in order to provide students with time for themselves, time for reflection, time to relax in each other’s company. The issues focused on include self-image, relationships, spirituality and hopes/aspirations for the future. These issues will be explores by means of personal reflection, group discussion and meditation. The retreat will take place in Dublin and is not a residential retreat.

Croagh Patrick
This retreat focuses on the tradition of pilgrimage. Journey to this holy mountain stretches back over 5,000 years from the Stone Age to the present day without interruption. Croagh Patrick is renowned for it Patrician Pilgrimage in honour of Saint Patrick, Ireland’s patron saint. It was on the summit of the mountain that Saint Patrick fasted for forty days in 441 AD and the custom has been faithfully handed down from generation to generation. This overnight retreat offers pilgrims the opportunity for prayer, reflection and time-out.

Esker Retreat House
Esker house in Galway is place of peace and tranquillity - the ideal escape from the stresses of modern life, a place to commune with God and nature.Days will be structured around prayer, personal reflections and the opportunity to write, paint and take time-out from the chaos of everyday life.