After four years fund-raising the monks at Glenstal Abbey, Co Limerick, hope to raise £1 million for the restoration of the abbey and the building of a visitors' centre, writes Arthur Quinlan.
Father Dominic Johnson, prior of Glenstal, said a US woman who recently visited the abbey was so impressed by the serenity of the abbey that she made a special contribution.
Father Dominic would not disclose the amount given, but said it was certainly not a million pounds or anything like it, as reported, but "we hope that in time the fund will have reached that amount". The donor is a patron of artistic centres in Rome.