Kylemore Abbey (Mainistir na Coille Móire)

A romantic lakeside castle turned Benedictine abbey in Connemara.

Built as a private castle in the 1860s and now home to Benedictine nuns, Kylemore is mirrored in the still waters of Pollacapall Lough beneath forested slopes. Its neo-Gothic church and Victorian walled garden draw visitors year-round.

At a glance

• Built in the 1860s as a castle
• Benedictine abbey since 1920
• Famed Victorian walled garden

In County Galway

Kylemore Abbey is in County Galway, Gaillimh in Irish, which means “the stony river (the River Corrib)”.

More in Galway

• Aran Islands (Oileáin Árann): A group of three islands located at the mouth of Galway Bay.
• Connemara Gaeltacht (Conamara): The largest and best-known Irish-speaking region, a wild landscape of bog, mountain and Atlantic coastline.
• The Twelve Bens (Na Beanna Beola): A rugged range of quartzite peaks at the heart of Connemara.
• Lough Corrib (Loch Coirib): The Republic's largest lake, dividing Galway city from Connemara.
• Dún Aonghasa (Dún Aonghasa): A spectacular prehistoric stone fort on the cliff-edge of Inis Mór.

Other places of this kind

• The Cliffs of Moher (Aillte an Mhothair): Sea cliffs located at the southwestern edge of the Burren region.
• Newgrange (Sí an Bhrú): A prehistoric monument in County Meath, older than Stonehenge and the Pyramids.
• The Giant's Causeway (Clochán an Aifir): Around 40,000 interlocking basalt columns on the Antrim coast, a UNESCO site wrapped in the legend of Finn McCool.
• Glendalough (Gleann Dá Loch): A beautiful glacial valley of two lakes, home to one of Ireland's most important early monastic settlements.
• The Rock of Cashel (Carraig Phádraig): A dramatic outcrop crowned with medieval buildings, once the seat of the kings of Munster.
• Clonmacnoise (Cluain Mhic Nóis): A great early monastery on the banks of the Shannon, once a renowned centre of learning.

The Irish name

The Irish form of Kylemore Abbey is Mainistir na Coille Móire. You can hear it spoken, and take apart names like it, in the Placename Explorer. The authoritative record for any Irish place-name is logainm.ie.