"A hunting lodge originally stood where the Abbey is today and it is said that Mitchell Henry and his bride, Margaret Vaughn , visited Connemara while on honeymoon in 1850. Margaret was so charmed by Connemara that Mitchell Henry returned and purchased the 15,000 acre estate as a romantic gift for her and created one of Ireland's most iconic castles." — Kylemore Abbey Guide
Kylemore Abbey
In 1874, while on holiday in Egypt, Margaret became ill with dysentery and died. Mitchell had the church built in her memory.
The "cathedral in miniature."
After several owners, Kylemore became an Abbey in 1920 with the arrival of Benedictine nuns, who fled their monastery at Ypres, Flanders, during WWI. The nuns remain in residence as Directors of the Kylemore Trust.