7-Day Silent Residential Retreat, August 2026

​With Jaya Rudgard and Christoph Köck 

​Venue: De La Salle Pastoral Centre, Castletown, County Laois

​Cost: This will be decided in consultation with the venue in the new year. We have been told that there will be price increases next year. We expect that costs will be in the region of: 

​€800 for shared twin room; 

​€950 for a standard room; 

​€1,100 for an ensuite room.

​This fee includes all meals, board, admin and teaching fees. Please contact us if you wish to pay by instalments, or if you wish to apply for a reduced fee.

​Booking via link below. A €300 deposit is required and the completion of application form. Balance to be paid by 1st June 2026. 

​Application Forms: For an application form please email [email protected]

​Suitable for: The retreat is open to anyone with previous experience of similar types of silent retreat of 5 days or longer.  It is important that you have had some experience of being on retreat, in silence, before undertaking a retreat of this length.

​This retreat is an opportunity to put aside time to dedicate it to your personal practice, without the usual pressures of daily life. You are invited into silence, supported by others also practising in silence. This can be such a supportive environment in which to immerse ourselves in living wakefully, coming closer to our own experience, coming to know 'the stranger who was yourself.'

​For mindfulness teachers and teacher trainees, personal meditation practice is an essential foundation for this work, and participation in silent teacher-led mindfulness meditation retreats is part of all Good Practice Guidelines.  This retreat satisfies the MTAI criteria for a mindfulness teacher's annual retreat.

​This retreat will explore aspects of the discourses of the Buddha which are the foundation for the so-called 'modern mindfulness movement'. These are profound teachings that encourage us to place the path of freedom and compassion in the classroom of our lives, nurturing a heart that is receptive and unshakeable. Developing the capacity to encounter our own inner and outer experience with equanimity and curiosity creates a foundation for meeting the experiences of our students and clients, in offering mindfulness-based interventions.

​Each day will offer a sustained schedule of formal Insight and Metta meditation practices, group meetings with the teachers, talks and instructions, all within an underlying environment of silence. As well as sitting and walking meditation, there will be periods of guided mindful movement each day.

​Access: We welcome people with disabilities to our retreat.  Please contact us with your specific needs relating to disability, long-term illness or health condition.

​Donations: To allow us to be able to continue to be sustainable and inclusive in the current climate we would very much welcome donations so that we can continue to offer places at reduced rates.  We hope to offer rates which continue to reflect our intention that anyone who would like to attend can do so, through collective generosity.  Please consider making a donation, no matter how small.  

​‍Cancellation policy:

​Cancellations up to 1st June 2026 will incur a €50 administration fee.

​Cancellations after 1st June 2026 will incur the loss of the deposit.

​The organisers may waive cancellation fees in exceptional circumstances, at their discretion.

​‍Prior to your retreat, we will send some more information about what to expect whilst at Castletown.