A Future for Irish Historic Houses - Irish Heritage Trust

Kylemore Abbey, Letterfrack, Co. Galway
Kylemore Abbey is located between Letterfrack and Recess in Connemara, County
Galway. Originally built in the 1860s by Mitchell Henry MP, a wealthy Liverpool
merchant, it is presently owned by the Benedictine nuns:
- The location of Kylemore Abbey in a remote and scenic part of
Connemara, along with its neo-Gothic architectural design mark it as one
of the most dramatic and romantic Irish country houses. It is probably one
of the most photographed buildings in the west of Ireland if not in the
whole country.
- Historically, Kylemore is rather unique in that it was one of only a few
Irish country houses built in the post-Famine period.
- The house was designed by James Franklin Fuller and Ussher Roberts.
Besides its dramatic setting, the house is characterised by its neo-Gothic
battlemented and machicolated towers and turrets.
- The Gothic church, built between 1877 and 1881 also to the design of
Fuller, is a building of international importance. It has been described as a
‘cathedral in miniature’ as it incorporates elements adapted from some of
the great English cathedrals of the Decorated Era, 1180-1215.
Since the 1920s, Kylemore has been owned by the Benedictine nuns who came to
Ireland during the Great War when their abbey at Ypres was destroyed. It has since
become an internationally-renowned girls’ boarding school.
Architecturally, the house has suffered from some unfortunate changes down through
the years. For example:
- In the early twentieth century, the second owner of the castle, the duke of
Manchester, transformed the magnificent ballroom into an enormous
kitchen. It has since been converted into a chapel.
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