Kylemore Abbey

Kylemore Abbey is a neo-Gothic castle on the shore of Pollacapall Lough in Connemara in the west of Ireland, surrounded by mountains and woodland. It was built in 1867–68 for the wealthy Mitchell Henry and his wife Margaret; depending on the passage, sources give 1867 or 1868. Since 1920 it has belonged to a community of Irish Benedictine nuns who had to flee the Belgian city of Ypres during the First World War.

The estate includes a Victorian walled garden of about 2.4 hectares (six acres). At its peak, 40 gardeners looked after 21 heated glasshouses. Five minutes' walk from the castle stands the neo-Gothic church of 1881, which Mitchell Henry had built in memory of Margaret; according to Wikipedia he also had a chapel and a mausoleum built after her death in 1874.

The visitor car park is on the other side of the lake; a free shuttle runs about every 15 minutes. Allow about two and a half hours for the abbey and gardens, or around one hour for the abbey alone. Opening hours change with the season; check them in advance.