A Year at Kylemore Abbey: Clarkson's Farm with rosary beads will leave you nun the wiser

Irish Times

a day ago

The title of The Hills Are Alive: A Year at Kylemore Abbey (RTÉ One, 6.30pm) is obviously intended to evoke images of
Julie Andrews
, aka the singing nun from The Sound of Music, gambolling over Alpine meadows at full throttle.
But while Andrews may have become TV's most famous wimple-wearer simply by warbling The Hills Are Alive this wistful
documentary
is a more meditative affair – which doesn't quite do what it says on the tin.
RTÉ
has pitched the Hills Are Alive as telling the story of a community of Benedictine nuns as they 'battle to save their castle monastery and their centuries-old way of life' – but the focus is largely on
Kylemore Abbey
itself, today a booming tourist spot and biodiversity centre.
Some viewers will consider this a let down. We were promised Sister Act in
Connemara
, yet the three-part series is in the main about the challenges of running a small rural business dependent on attracting a steady flow of tourists. In other words, Clarkson's Farm with rosary beads.
READ MORE
Still, as a cosy watch, it ticks the boxes with a gentle efficiency. A Year at Kylemore Abbey isn't going to send anyone's pulse sky high – but, then, isn't balmy, calming viewing exactly what you want as the weekend draws to an end?
The nuns are a thoughtful bunch, though there is a temptation to read between the lines when Sister Genevieve Harrington diplomatically explains that living with other members of the order is like being shacked up with your family.
'There are times when you fall out of love. All your goodwill and forbearance is tried and tested,' she says. 'In any relationship you have made a decision to love. Love is a decision. It's not a feeling. It's the people God has placed you with and not the ones you would have chosen for yourself. So you learn to get along.'
Her smile never wavers though her eyes are briefly full of mischief: the Lord may move in mysterious ways but he is clearly an old hand at helping you get on with awkward housemates.
[
TV guide: the best new shows to watch, starting tonight
Opens in new window
]
Kylemore Abbey, a Benedictine Monastery built on the grounds of Kylemore Castle, by Pollacappul Lough. Photograph: Betend A/ Andia/ Universal Images Group via Getty Images
Elsewhere the series is more formulaic and at moments verges on advertorial (no surprise given that Tourism Ireland co-funded the project). Coach-loads of American tourists are disgorged at Kylemore, built in 1868 by Manchester textile magnate Michael Henry and taken over by the Benedictines in 1920, who operated a girls school on the site until in 2010.
Backstage, the nuns stay busy, overseeing the production of bespoke Kylemore scented candles – though the indefatigable Sr Harrington is more dubious about plans for nun-shaped chocolates.
The Benedictines are a closed order and, just like Cork hurling supporters since the All-Ireland final, spend much of the week in silent contemplation. They generally only speak to each other at weekends or during one of their regular board game nights – which, disappointingly, turn out to consist of Snakes and Ladders rather than Warhammer or Secret Hitler.
The life of a nun in the 21st century is one of calmness amid a world of chaos and distraction. That experience is captured by this documentary though you wish it had a little more pep in its step. Early on, it settles into a formulaic groove and, much like its pious subjects, it just can't shake the habit.
The Hills Are Alive: A Year at Kylemore Abbey is on RTÉ One, 6.30pm, Sunday