Kylemore Abbey

In the early 1850's a Manchester businessman, Mitchell Henry was on his honeymoon with his bride Margaret Vaughan from Quilly House in County Down. They passed where Kylemore Abbey now stands, very different to the single small dwelling that stood there at the time. Mrs. Henry fancied that she would like to live there. Ten years later her husband bought the property and the surrounding land and began to make her wish a reality.

Between 1863 and 1868 a magnificent castle, designed by James Franklin Fuller and Ussher Roberts, was built on the site, and became home to the Henry's and their nine children. They called it Kylemore Castle, although it's situated in the town land of Pollacappul, with the town land of Kylemore being to the east. It cost a fortune to build, for the time, with figures ranging from several hundred thousand pounds to almost a million and a half being cited in different sources.

In the mid 1870's, Mrs. Henry visited Egypt where she contracted a fever from which she died. She was buried at Kylemore and in her honour a Gothic Church was built which is a replica of Norwich Cathedral in the east of England.

Some years later, a daughter of the Henry's, Geraldine, was killed in an accident at Derryinver, involving a horse. Apparently by now Henry wasn't as wealthy as he had previously been and he soon left the area and went to live in London.

In 1902 the castle was sold to a Chicago businessman names Zimmerman. He didn't buy it for himself, rather as a present to his daughter, who was married to the Duke of Manchester. They lived in the castle until 1913, and it seems that they made alteration to the property while there, some of which were less than flattering.

After lying idle for 7 years, it was bought in 1920 by a community of Benedictine Nuns. They had lived in Ypres in Belgium for about 250 years, but fled at the start of WW1. They made Kylemore Castle their new home, changing it to Kylemore Abbey. They founded a girl's school there which they still run.

On 25 january 1959 a fire during the night damaged the abbey. It took three years, and great attention to detail to repair the damage, but it was eventually fully restored.