Kylemore Abbey

Visiting Kylemore Abbey and Victorian Walled Gardens in Connemara, Ireland

Connemara is a region in the northwestern corner of County Galway along Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way. It is spectacular in a thousand ways! It is mostly rural with bogs, lakes, mountains, and (of course) gorgeous Connemara marble.

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My husband and I had the opportunity to drive through the desolate beauty of this region at the tail end of our road trip through Ireland. Connemara was actually the most northern point of our trip.

To read an overview of our full eight-day itinerary through Ireland, click here.

Like a lot of castle chasers who come to Ireland, we had our sights set on the lovely Kylemore Abbey. It ended up being everything we imagined, but the drive through the rugged countryside was so unexpectedly profound. I don’t know what I was expecting, but it surely was not this!

Above photos: The landscape of Connemara

The drive through Connemara to Kylemore Abbey can easily be accomplished as a day trip from Galway City. The total drive is just over an hour in each direction via the N59. Once we got out of the Galway metropolis, we hardly passed another car on the road.

Yup, just us and the sheep. Ya do kinda have to keep an eye out for these guys.

Above photo: Traffic

When we arrived at Kylemore Abbey, we were able to park just a short walk away from the entrance. The walking path is set back far enough to capture some wonderful photos of the abbey nestled into the greenery on the other side of Pollacapall Lough.

Above photos: Kylemore Abbey

Above photos: Views from the front terrace

The ground floor of the abbey contains an exhibit of the history of Kylemore and its various occupants. Several rooms have been converted for this purpose, but still contain artifacts on display from the original rooms. From the exhibit, visitors can walk through the restored formal period rooms. The fireplaces in the drawing room and dining room are especially impressive.

Above photos: Period rooms at Kylemore Abbey

Kylemore Abbey has been home to an order of Benedictine Nuns for the past 100 years. Originally is was built by Mitchell Henry, a wealthy businessman and politician from England. He was inspired to build it for his wife, Margaret. Unfortunately, the story has a very sad ending with Margaret passing way in Egypt at the age of 45. Both Mitchell and Margaret Henry are entombed in the mausoleum on the estate.

Above photo: The Henry Mausoleum

Above photo: Pollacapall Lough

In 1878 work began on the neo-Gothic Church which Henry built in memory of his wife. The exterior is a cathedral in miniature. The interior is decorated in striking colors green, ivory, and pink Connemara marble.  

Above photos: Inside the neo-Gothic Church

And so went our visit to Kylemore Abbey. When we were done with our visit to the abbey, we hopped on a little shuttle bus that took us over to the Victorian Walled Garden.

The garden was developed at the same time as the castle/abbey. In fact, it was one of the last walled gardens to be built during the Victorian period. At present, Kylemore is a Heritage Garden displaying only plant varieties from the Victorian era. It was raining pretty good when we stepped off the shuttle bus. We managed to walk around the gardens a bit, but eventually took cover from the weather.

Above photos: Kylemore Abbey Victorian Walled Gardens

After a visit to the gift shop, we started our drive back through the Connemara region. We were headed to Bunratty Castle, our very last stop on our eight-day road trip. We saved Bunratty for last because it is just a few minutes away from Shannon Airport, where our flight was to depart from the following morning.

Despite the rain, we enjoyed the drive back and taking in the scenery from the opposite direction. We took a slightly different route and made some stops at scenic vistas. My favorite was Killary Harbour.

Killary Harbour is a fjord on the west coast, a little north of Kylemore. Twenty thousand years ago you could walk on ice from Ireland to Norway. Glaciers cut out the valley as the ice melted, resulting the the dramatic formations.

Above photo: Killary Harbour

To read more about our last stop at Bunratty Castle, visit my full post on Limerick (Bunratty is in County Limerick, just about 15 minutes outside the city center).

We felt a difference in the climate and terrain in County Galway and Connemara as compared to the southern areas, even though Ireland is a pretty small island. The change was enough for us to want to come back to experience the rest of Ireland, including Northern Ireland on a subsequent visit. So, perhaps that will be in the cards for us sometime in the future.

To go back to the beginning of our Ireland road trip stating in Dublin, click here.

To read a not-so-brief overview of our entire 8-Day Ireland Road Trip, click here.