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Kylemore Abbey Review

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Kylemore Abbey

Address: About ¾ km (½ mi) back from Kylemore Valley Rd., Letterfrack, Co. Galway
Phone: 095/41146
www.kylemoreabbey.com

Category: Castles/Palaces
Location: Kylemore Valley

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Fodor's Review:

Kylemore Abbey, one of the most photographed castles in all of Ireland, is visible across a reedy lake with a backdrop of wooded hillside. The vast Gothic-Revival, turreted, gray-stone castle was built as a private home between 1861 and 1868 by Mitchell Henry, a member of parliament for County Galway, and his wife, Margaret, who had fallen in love with the spot during a carriage ride while on their honeymoon. The Henrys spared no expense—the final bill for their house is said to have come to 1.5 million—and employed mostly local laborers, thereby abetting the famine relief effort (this area was among the worst hit in all of Ireland). Adjacent to the house is a spectacular neo-Gothic chapel, which, sadly, became the burial place for Margaret, who died after contracting "Nile fever" on a trip to Egypt. In 1920, nuns from the Irish Abbey of the Nuns of St. Benedict, who fled their abbey in Belgium during World War I, eventually sought refuge in Kylemore, which had gone through a number of owners and decades of decline after the Henrys died. Still in residence, the Benedictine nuns run a girls' boarding school here. Three reception rooms and the main hall are open to the public, as are a crafts center and cafeteria. There's also a 6-acre walled Victorian garden; a shuttle bus from the abbey to the garden departs every 15 minutes during opening hours. An exhibition and video explaining the history of the house can be viewed year-round at the abbey, and the grounds are freely accessible most of the year. Ask at the excellent crafts shop for directions to the Gothic Chapel (a five-minute walk from the abbey), a tiny replica of Norwich Cathedral built by the Henrys.

Cost: EUR 12, including shuttle bus to garden
Open: Crafts shop, grounds, and cafeteria daily 10-6; exhibition and garden mid-Mar.-mid-Oct., daily 10-4:30

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