Born on a stud farm in County Limerick, Ireland, Mark Patrick Hederman was a keen sportsman who attended school at Glenstal Abbey in Ireland and later joined the Benedictine community there, which means that of his 82 years, as of June 2026, he will have spent 70 years in that location. He studied philosophy and theology in Paris in the 1960s and 70s doing an STL from the Institut Catholique de Paris and an MA on the philosophy of Emmanuel Levinas. He also holds a PhD in the Philosophy of Education from the National University of Ireland.
For many years in the monastery at Glenstal Abbey he taught French, English and Latin in the school before becoming headmaster in the 1980s and 1990s. He was elected abbot of the community in 2008. He was asked to give lectures in many places: Ireland, England, France, Australia, Nigeria, and taught literature in Boston University for the year 1991/2. He is the author of 15 books. He has been librarian in the monastery for 21 years, has kept up an interest in sports such as horse riding, football, tennis and Rugby Union, and he is a regular visitor on various radio and TV chat shows.
