If you can hear music playing - then brilliant! What you are listening to is Handel's Watermusic Suite. Handel was one of the many famous geusts who attended banquets at Loreto Abbey (originally Rathfarnham House). This suite gives you an insight into the world of Loreto Abbey during the 18th Century.

Loreto Abbey is surely one of the most stunning buildings in Rathfarnham and it is a marvellous example of Georgian architectue. The buildings are so big and distictive that you can easily spot them from the Dublin Mountains.

Loreto Abbey was built in 1725 for William Palliser, a decendant of a Yorkshire family, who settled in Wexford during the 17th century.

Mr. Palliser was a very educated man and he invented a tubing for guns and a type of amunition, which became known as 'Palliser's shot'. Palliser was a member of the aristrocracy and he entertained guests such as Dean Swift and Thomas Moore. It is believed that Thomas Moore wrote his famous poem 'Oft in the Stilly Night' in the grounds of Loreto Abbey. Folklore has it that during a banquet one night, the gathering wanted Moore to compose a poem so they locked him in one of the rooms until he came out with the masterpiece.

Rathfarnham House was bought in 1789 by George Grierson, King's Printer in Ireland. The title 'King's Printer' was given to the family in 1727 on the advice of Lord Carteret.

The Act of Union 1800 brought an end to the position of 'King's Printer' and George Grierson left Rathfarnham House after being heavily compensated and went to Woodtown House where he took up farming.

Rathfarnham House was left vacant until 1821, when the Catholic Archbishop of Dublin, Dr. Daniel Murray bought it for £2,000. His aim was to educate children at the establishment. He wanted Frances Ball to run the school, she had been sent to York by him to receive her religous education. In 1822, after significant renovation, Sr. Teresa (Frances Ball) and her fellow sisters moved into the establishment. Sr. Teresa became known as Mother Teresa since she was the head of the order. She renamed the place Loreto, in honour of the Holy House in Nazareth, Loreto, Italy. Mother Teresa began a building programme and this was continued on by her successors.

Loreto Abbey became the head of the order of 22 convents in Australia, Africa, India, Spain, Gibralter, England, Mauritus an of course Ireland.

In 1838 Mother Teresa began the process of building the church building. In 1822, the school offered French, Italian, Spanish, English, history, geography, writing, arithmetic, needlework, painting, drawing and music, which included the harp and piano. In 1884, the boarding school had become so renouned that Daniel O'Connell. placed his two daughters there. Those who didn't have the wealth as O'Connell were able to place their children in a 'poor school' free of charge. After Catholic Emanicipation, the poor school received an annual grant of £20 per annum.

Mother Teresa died on 22nd May 1861 and she was laid to rest in a vault in the chapel at Loreto Abbey. Her building plans continued after her death. In 1863, the novitiate was added, the Concert Hall and Reflectory in 1869, St. Anthony's wing in 1896, St. Francis Xavier wing in 1903 and Liseux in 1932. The Infirmary building (red brick) purchased in 1827 was replaced in the 1970s.

Probably the most famous connection with the building is that Mother Teresa of Calcutta entered religon at Loreto Abbey in 1928 at the age of 18. As we know, she received the Nobel Peace Prize, for her work with the poor, in 1979.

In its prime, Loreto Abbey housed up to 200 pupils. In 1996, it began to phase out boarders and it closed its doors in 1999 for the very last time after 247 years of educating young women. A preservation order has been passed which will protect the buildings.

In 1999, the building company Riversmith aquired a site (12.1 acres) at the rear of the granite faced Georgian buildings for E14 million. They are currently building 10 apartment blocks containing 271 apartments. Find out whats happened recently with the building programme here.