Welcome to our history section
In the early 17th century, as a result of continued persecution of Catholics, it was illegal for women to train in Ireland as religious so many opted to
travel to Spanish Flanders, France or Spain in order to fulfill their calling. This was the case with the foremothers of our community. They travelled to the Poor Clare monastery in Gravelines, then in the territory of Spanish Flanders, modern-day Northern France. Some of them had brothers who were already Franciscans in the Irish Franciscan College in Louvain. That college had been founded in 1607.
The Poor Clare monastery of Gravelines was founded in 1609 to provide a house for English women who wished to become Poor Clares.As the Irish friars were already established in Louvain they provided spiritual assistance to this monastery before their Irish sisters arrived. Our foremothers joined this community in the early 1620s and by 1626, they numbered five sisters. In that same year on the 20th of May they left the Gravelines community and set out to found a separate house specifically for Irish women in the neighbouring town of Dunkirk. As circumstances changed they eventually decided to return to Ireland in 1629 now numbering seven. After a short period in Dublin they eventually settled in a rural part of Co. Westmeath not far from Athlone. The monastery was appropriately called 'Bethlehem' to emphasise the central focus of Franciscan spirituality, namely the poverty and humility of the Son of God in taking on our human flesh and becoming one with us in the Incarnation.
As the number of women joining the community grew daughter houses were established in Galway, Drogheda, Athlone and Wexford.
We thank God for the life and witness of our sisters and for their faith, courage and dedication to Christ and His holy Mother after the example of St. Francis and St. Clare. We pray that whatever our state in life, we may be faithful to God as they were and that our lives may bear great fruit as theirs did.
This year, 2022, marks the 400th anniversary of the solemn profession of blood sisters Cecily and Eleanor Dillon on the 8th of September 1622. . Sr. Cecily was the Abbess of Bethlehem monastery, the motherhouse of our Galway monastery at the time that the foundation was made in 1642.
Being the longest-surviving group of women religious in Ireland, there is a growing interest in the history of our Community. We intend over time to build up this section of the website by adding more information and digitised documents which will be of interest to casual readers and scholars alike. For now the PDF's which are attached to this section provide a large amount of information on various aspects of our history
We are grateful to the copyright holders of articles republished here for granting permission to use them on this website. Website readers should be aware that articles are published here for information only and a separate permission must be sought from the copyright holders to use the articles for any other purpose. 
Up to the evening of your life, remain in wonder and thanksgiving for the mysterious call that re-echoed in the depths of your heart one day: "Follow Me"…
Religious life is a friendship, an intimacy of the mystical order with Christ…
