Kylemore Abbey, Benedictine abbey in Connemara, Ireland
Kylemore Abbey is a Benedictine monastery in Connemara, Ireland, sitting at the base of mountains and along the shore of Pollacappul lake. The main building shows grey limestone walls with numerous pointed turrets, while the neo-Gothic chapel stands separately among trees further east.
Mitchell Henry built the estate beginning in 1868 as a private home for his wife Margaret, who died shortly after completion. Benedictine nuns from Ypres in Belgium took over the abandoned castle in 1920 and established both school and convent here.
The Irish name Mainistir na Coille Móire means Monastery of the Great Wood. The community traces its roots to a Benedictine house founded in Brussels in 1598 by Lady Mary Percy, later moving to Ghent and Ypres. Visitors can see the Ramillies flag, carried by the Irish Brigade at the 1706 battle and later entrusted to the nuns.
The buildings and gardens open daily from 10 AM to 5 PM, with visitors moving freely between the interior rooms, church and walled garden. A free shuttle bus takes guests from the main entrance to the garden area, as the walk there covers about half a mile (1 kilometer).
Mitchell Henry died in 1910 and his ashes were interred in the mausoleum beside his wife Margaret, not in England. The Gothic church he raised in her memory between 1877 and 1881 has columns of green Connemara, black Kilkenny, red Cork and white Tyrone marble, and was reopened by President Mary Robinson on 28 April 1995.
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