Sister Máire Hickey OSB

Máire Hickey was born in Dublin in 1938. She studied classics in the University of Cambridge, where she received a first-class honours degree (Classical Tripos) in 1965 and a PhD in 1973.

After Sister Máire got to know the community of Dinklage through the Benedictines of St. Matthias in Trier, she entered the monastery in 1974. After her time of initial formation, Sr. Maire made her first profession on 21 March 1977 and her final profession on 25 March 1980.

On 8 November 1983, the community elected Sr Máire as the second abbess of Dinklage, and this service was renewed for a further 12 years on 8 November 1995. During her time as abbess, a fundamental renovation of the moated castle took place, which included the installation of an elevator within the old walls and the modernization of the kitchen.

Sister Máire also gave high priority to a good and well-rounded education for the sisters, so that they could do their work and tasks with competence and joy. New areas of work emerged, such as spiritual exercises in the guest house and the development of the Martinscheune, a ‘hostel for people in need’. Sister Máire also felt strongly about involving the community in larger networks. She prepared the foundation of the ‘BurgKreis – a circle of friends and supporters of Dinklage Castle’, which was then established in 1999.

Beyond her own living space at Dinklage Castle, Sr Máire was committed to networking the community within the worldwide context of the Benedictine Order. As a result of this, and due to her visionary streak, coupled with great judgement, Irish patience and leadership skills, she was elected the first moderator of the CIB (Communio Internationalis Benedictinarum, the worldwide association of all Benedictine nuns) in 1998.

Sr Máire had the necessary gifts to bring together the communities of Benedictine sisters and nuns. Under her leadership and that of the CIB Administrative Council, statutes were developed together with the Abbot Primate that allowed the Benedictine Sisters to be associated with the Abbot’s Congress of the Confoederatio Benedictina in 2004.

It was also these skills that brought her to Kylemore Abbey after her time as Abbess of Dinklage ended in 2008, to assist with the future project of the Benedictine Sisters there. She was appointed as ‘Pontifical Commissary’ there until 2023, during which time she formed new networks with and for the community. The development of the Study Centre at the University of Notre Dame, Indiana, USA, came about through her initiative, as did the connection with the Indian Benedictine Sisters in the diocese of Cuddapah. During her time as administrator at Kylemore, a church was built and the new monastery was constructed, where she spent her last months.

Sr. Maire was laid to rest after a funeral held in the monastic chapel of Kyemore Abbey on Saturday, 1 March 2025, followed by the burial in the cemetery of the neo-Gothic church of Kylemore Abbey. For the funeral, in addition to the nuns of Kylemore Abbey and some from Abbey St. Scholastika in Dinklage Germany, there were people from several countries present at Kylemore Abbey, as well as many from around the world who tuned into the Abbey webcam for services.

Her death is a great loss to the monastic communities at Kylemore and Dinklage and indeed to the whole Benedictine Order. Our loss is heaven’s gain, and we count on her intercession for all in the Benedictine world.