St. Anthony's Retreat Centre
This main building contains the Director's Dwelling area, the small public Oratory and the retreatants 'upper room' - a reading cum dining room. Close by there are 5 ensuite hermitages for the use of  retreatants. Directed retreats available - Ignatian spirituality.

Contact St. Anthony's at 07493 68370
or from Northern Ireland or GB 0035374 9368370
or by email sarce@eircom.net
or ordinary mail
Fr. Neal Carlin
St. Anthony's Retreat Centre
Dundrean, Burnfoot
Co. Donegal
Ireland 

" you have only to be still and God will do the fighting for you"

"In the silence of my heart
 I can hear His will, when I listen"
Columba of Iona


Saint Anthonys Retreat Centre, 
Donegal, Ireland
To see the New St Anthonys Booklet Click on the paintbrush below and when the brochure comes up you can increase the size to 75%.
Bookings
Bed and Breakfast 30 Euros
All Day 50 Euros
In booking a hermitage we suggest period of
3, 5, or 8 days. Recommended donation of
50  Euro per day or according to means 


Applications
Fr Neal Carlin
St Anthony’s Retreat Centre
Dundrean, Burnfoot
Co Donegal
Tel: 074 93 68370
Email: sarce@eircom.net
The Retreat Centre is a sister Community to
Columba Community, Derry
Tel: 028 7126 2407
www.columbacommunity.com
Fr Neal meditates in the Garden at St Anthonys.
St Anthony’s – a source of joy and inner peace


AS crisis after crisis erupts around the country and the world, more and more people are facing turmoil in their lives. At times like this, it can help to have somewhere quiet to go to gather your thoughts. One such haven of peace is to be found on the county border between Derry and Donegal.
 Surrounded by beautiful countryside in the townland of Dundrean, at Burnfoot, St Anthony’s Hermitage is a gateway to another world – a world where worries can be laid at the feet of Mother Nature, as she soothes the senses with her birdsong and trickling stream and encourages a smile through the beauty of her flowers.
 Leaving city and well travelled roads behind, the pace of life gradually slows down on the drive along the little country roads leading upwards to St Anthony’s and, by the time you turn in at the gate to the little white cottage, you are ready to embrace the solitude of this peaceful place.
 The picturesque cottage is home to Fr Neal Carlin, spiritual director and founder of the Columba Community, which has its roots within the city of the oaks on the banks of the Foyle.
 Founded 30 years ago to serve the local community in prayer, reconciliation, healing and building community, the Columba Community began creating the retreat centre when a small area of land was gifted to them in 1985 in the scenic setting of Dundrean – the mound of the thorn bush.
 Commenting on this important milestone in all that has been achieved through the Community, Fr Carlin recalled: “We had been praying about finding the right place for a retreat centre and felt that it should be in a quiet place in the countryside. A few days after we had held an all night prayer vigil, a man came to me and offered us this land and the old house on it.
 “When we came to see it, hanging on the gate was an old plastic covered calendar with the picture of St Anthony of Padua holding the Child Jesus, and so we named the centre after him and also after St Anthony of the Desert, whom we have a great devotion to.
 “He was one of the first great hermits, who lived in the desert in Egypt for years, praying and doing penance, and many people came to him to get God’s wisdom. He appears on one of the old High Crosses of St Columba in Moone Abbey, County Kildare.”
 Reflecting on what St Anthony’s has to offer people today, Fr Carlin said: “A quiet time. It’s literally a God-send to all of us who enjoy quiet, space, privacy, time and place to pray and listen, and long walks in some beautiful countryside.”
 He added: “The primary reason for St Anthony’s is to give people an experience of a retreat, where they can get in touch with themselves and experience the Spirit of God within and the Spirit of God in nature. It’s an opportunity to get guidance for a more fulfilled and generous life.
 “After sitting quietly and getting replenished, I feel I have more to give and in return I feel happier. Go to the well of living water to replenish yourself.
 “People who have fallen out with the Church need to fall in with God. Unless we get in touch with the fountain of living water, the source of our joy and inner peace, we will not live fulfilled lives.”

Water

 Recalling a story about a man who had fallen out with the Church, Fr Carlin said: “Years later this man met an old friend who asked him if he was dying of thirst in the desert and was offered cold, clear, spring water through twisted, rusted pipes, would he take it. Of course, the man said that he would.
 “Well, the Church is filled with frail, fault-filled sinners, yet God seems to choose to work through frail humanity. Accepting help, grace, blessing wherever you get it, seems to me to be the answer.”
 The long, low cottage in which Fr Carlin lives also houses a little oratory and a reading cum dining room, known as the ‘upper room’ and is for the use of those who want to stay over in one of the five ensuite hermitages at St Anthony’s.
 Named after the four Gospel writers, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, and St Colmcille, the hermitages are varied in size and offer simple and comfortable accommodation, with oil fire heating as well as specially fitted wood stoves.
 Far enough apart for privacy, the hermitages are close enough for those who don’t want to feel too isolated, and each has its own little brick pathway, which is lit up after dark with sensor lighting.
 A Pilgrim Garden in the grounds of St Anthony’s leads you through the life of Christ, beginning with a stone built crib and ending with a tomb, and has been inspired by scripture and Celtic Christian tradition.
 The wild, natural beauty of the wooded garden and the intriguing little areas for private meditation combines to help you to unwind, to listen and reflect.
 Passing through an open green area edged by a stone wall that has stood the passage of time, the garden path winds its way amongst trees and bushes, with little side paths leading off to secluded areas where you can sit and absorb the beauty and peace that abound.
 Alongside the gentleness of nature there is a sense of strength emanating from the rock features you discover as you journey through the garden, from the almost hidden stone circle and Mass Rock, to the little shrines and raised mound giving a panoramic view of the countryside and Grainan of Aileach in the distance.
 The garden also has a beautiful stream of spring water flowing through a Celtic cross, which is full of significance for Fr Carlin.
 He reflected: “For me, the renewal of the church could be well served in us returning to models as laid out in our Celtic heritage; a semi-monastic model.
 “I think the Irish church is called to finish the unfinished Cross of Kells, to build on the faith of the men and women of the Golden Age and their lifestyle.
 “Scripture tells us to ‘return to the rock from which you were hewn’. Return to the quarry from which you were dug. That’s what the cross here is saying to me – ‘Go back and look at your simple, clear ancestors’, many of whom gave up positions of honour and riches to joyfully spread the Good News of salvation announced by Jesus Christ.”
 On hand to give spiritual guidance to anyone seeking it at St Anthony’s, Fr Carlin explained that each of the hermitages has an information guide, which include some spiritual writings: “What we offer is mostly taken from Ignatian spirituality, which is essentially applying short scripture texts to wherever you are at on your own walk.”
 Fr Carlin celebrates a special healing Mass, for all who want to attend, at St Anthony’s every Monday night, at 7.30 pm, and at Columba House, 11 Queen Street, Derry, on Thursday nights at 7.30 pm.
 The Columba Community has also created a Celtic Peace Garden, which is located a short distance away from St Anthony’s, beside the IOSAS (Island of Saints and Scholars) Centre, which all are welcome to enjoy as well.
 Anyone wishing to book a hermitage can contact Fr Carlin at St Anthony’s. The telephone number is 074 93 68370 and e-mail: stanthonysretreat7@gmail.com