St Benedict's Abbey Fort Augustus was a re-foundation of the Irish and later Scots monastery of St James at Ratisbon (now Regensburg, in Bavaria, north-east of Munich). This monastery in South Germany had been founded in the 11th century by the Irish Benedictine monk Marianus. After the Reformation it had become an important centre for Scottish Catholics and continued to be so until it closed in 1862.
One of the most tangible tokens of this link between Fort Augustus and Regensburg is the collection of books and manuscripts which tradition says was transported to Scotland in the early 1860s by one of the last two remaining monks at St James's, Father Anselm Robertson. Among the books and manuscripts are writings of the early Christian fathers, written at Regensburg 1080-1083 in Latin with some notes in gaelic in Marianus's hand. These are the earliest written Gaelic words currently held in Scotland. Following the dissolution of the Community at Fort Augustus in 1998, the National Library of Scotland purchased the precious collection.
The Abbey has been empty since 1999 when the last remaining ten monks moved out. In November 2000 the Abbey was bought by business group Abbey Millenium Scotland which is headed by television personality Terry Nutkins. Proposals to develop the abbey into a successful tourist attraction were unsuccessful and the abbey was sold to The Highland Club for redevelopment into a complex of luxury apartments.

Research:- Mrs. G. Cumming