diff --git a/Language/KURE/MonadCatch.hs b/Language/KURE/MonadCatch.hs
--- a/Language/KURE/MonadCatch.hs
+++ b/Language/KURE/MonadCatch.hs
@@ -18,6 +18,8 @@
            , runKureM
            , fromKureM
            , liftKureM
+             -- ** The IO Monad
+           , liftAndCatchIO
              -- ** Combinators
            , (<+)
            , catchesM
@@ -35,7 +37,9 @@
 import Prelude hiding (foldr)
 
 import Control.Applicative
+import Control.Exception (catch, SomeException)
 import Control.Monad
+import Control.Monad.IO.Class
 
 import Data.Foldable
 import Data.List (isPrefixOf)
@@ -173,5 +177,18 @@
 withPatFailMsg :: MonadCatch m => String -> m a -> m a
 withPatFailMsg msg = modFailMsg (\ e -> if "Pattern match failure" `isPrefixOf` e then msg else e)
 {-# INLINE withPatFailMsg #-}
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+-- | The String is generated by 'show'ing the exception.
+instance MonadCatch IO where
+  catchM :: IO a -> (String -> IO a) -> IO a
+  catchM io f = io `catch` (\ e -> f $ show (e :: SomeException))
+  {-# INLINE catchM #-}
+
+-- | Lift a computation from the 'IO' monad, catching failures in the target monad.
+liftAndCatchIO :: (MonadCatch m, MonadIO m) => IO a -> m a
+liftAndCatchIO io = join $ liftIO (liftM return io `catchM` (return . fail))
+{-# INLINE liftAndCatchIO #-}
 
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
diff --git a/Language/KURE/Translate.hs b/Language/KURE/Translate.hs
--- a/Language/KURE/Translate.hs
+++ b/Language/KURE/Translate.hs
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@
 
 import Control.Applicative
 import Control.Monad
+import Control.Monad.IO.Class
 import Control.Category
 import Control.Arrow
 
@@ -141,6 +142,13 @@
    mplus :: Translate c m a b -> Translate c m a b -> Translate c m a b
    mplus t1 t2 = translate $ \ c a -> apply t1 c a `mplus` apply t2 c a
    {-# INLINE mplus #-}
+
+-- | Lifting through a Reader transformer, where (c,a) is the read-only environment.
+instance MonadIO m => MonadIO (Translate c m a) where
+
+   liftIO :: IO b -> Translate c m a b
+   liftIO = constT . liftIO
+   {-# INLINE liftIO #-}
 
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
diff --git a/kure.cabal b/kure.cabal
--- a/kure.cabal
+++ b/kure.cabal
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 Name:                kure
-Version:             2.12.0
+Version:             2.12.2
 Synopsis:            Combinators for Strategic Programming
 Description:	     The Kansas University Rewrite Engine (KURE) is a domain-specific language for strategic rewriting.
 	 	     KURE was inspired by Stratego and StrategyLib, and has similarities with Scrap Your Boilerplate and Uniplate.
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@
 License-file:        LICENSE
 Author:              Neil Sculthorpe and Andy Gill
 Maintainer:          Neil Sculthorpe <neil@ittc.ku.edu>
-Copyright:           (c) 2012--2013 The University of Kansas
+Copyright:           (c) 2006--2013 The University of Kansas
 Homepage:            http://www.ittc.ku.edu/csdl/fpg/software/kure.html
 Stability:	     beta
 build-type: 	     Simple
@@ -40,9 +40,10 @@
     examples/Expr/Examples.hs
 
 Library
-  Build-Depends: base >= 4.5 && < 5,
-                 dlist >= 0.2 && < 1,
-                 ghc >= 7.6
+  Build-Depends: base         >= 4.5 && < 5,
+                 dlist        >= 0.2 && < 1,
+                 ghc          >= 7.6,
+                 transformers >= 0.2 && < 1
   Ghc-Options: -Wall
   Exposed-modules:
        Language.KURE