Visiting Kylemore Abbey

On a beautiful day in July, we took another daytrip during our staycation. Where the covid19 lockdown had just been lifted, we had decided to stay put this year and rediscover the most beautiful locations in Ireland.
On this particular day, we were touring around stunning Connemara, an area in County Galway famous for it's tiny coves, the twelve Bens mountain range and its beautiful beaches with crystal clear water of the Atlantic.

As it was the start of the holiday season and as the lockdown had just been lifted, it was remarkably quiet on the roads. Where Connemara's twisty roads would normally be full of tour busses and foreign cars, this time round it was the odd Irish campervan.
We had many times visited Kylemore Abbey (https://www.kylemoreabbey.com/), but this time-round we had decided to take an actual tour of the fabulous walled gardens and the Abbey.

Kylemore abbey is located in a stunning location flanked by a beautiful lake and surrounded by majestic mountains, and it isn't hard to see why this location was chosen to built this castle back in 1867. The vast estate was bought as a love token for Margaret Vaughan Henry by her husband Henry. But after only a few years after the castle was completed, the tragic death of Margaret occurred on one of their trips abroad. After her tragic death, Henry kept improving the estate providing work for the locals, but to Henry ,the house would never feel the same after his wife's early death.
In 1920, Benedictine nuns from Ypres escaping from a war torn Belgium settled at Kylemore abbey in 1920.  The Benedictine nuns established an international boarding school and established a day school for local girls.

​While walking through the abbey, we admired the beautiful decorated rooms, from the beautiful laid-out dining table to the cozy living room. We can only image what the place would have been during these days, many of the girls attending the boarding school being from wealthy parents.

After the self-guided tour, we headed towards the wishing stone  and the Gothic church. Afterwards, we walked along a beautiful tree-lined lane towards the Victorian walled garden. Where we could have chosen to take the easy way and take the short bus-drive, we rather stayed in the open air and walked the 20 minutes.
​The gardens which had fallen in disrepair have now been lovingly restored. The 6 acre garden is divided by a small stream which is bordered by many different ferns.
The eastern part of the garden includes the formal flower garden, glass houses and the gardener's cottage. The western half includes the vegetable garden, fruit trees and herbaceous border.
We concluded out visit with a visit to the gift shop and tearoom.