Heritage Island, Ireland's Visitor Attractions

The present Benedictine nuns of Kylemore Abbey have a long history, beginning at Brussels in 1598. This was the time following the suppression of religious houses in the British Isles when British Catholics left England and opened religious houses abroad. A number of monasteries originated from one Benedictine house in Brussels, founded by Lady Marry Percy in 1598. Houses funded from Lady Mary’s house in Brussels were at Cambray in France (now Stanbrook in England) and at Ghent (now Oulton Abbey) in Staffordshire, Ghent in turn founded several Benedictine Houses, now of which was at Ypres. Kylemore Abbey is the oldest of the Irish Benedictine Abbeys

The Victorian Walled Garden, situated 1.6 km (1 mile) from the Abbey, is 3.4 hectares (8.5 acres) in extent, 2.4 hectares (6 acres) of which are completely enclosed by a brick and limestone wall. The garden was constructed at the same time at the Castle and was laid out by the head gardener, James Garnier. The glasshouses were designed by Cranstons of Birmingham. These could be walked through from end to end and acted as a winter garden for the ladies on wet days. The glasshouses were heated by three boilers, one of which doubled as a limekiln, and a complex system of underground hot-water pipes, 4.8 kilometres (3 miles) in extent. Two of the glasshouses have recently been restored, along with the Head Gardener’s House and workman’s Bothy. The garden provided the flowers, fruits and vegetables for the Henry family. However, under the ownership of the Duke and Duchess of Manchester and Ernest Fawke, it went into decline.  Nuns re-employed a Head Gardener until the 1940s. In the 1950s, Sr. Benedict took charge and kept the garden working for as long as was financially possible. In time, the flower garden became a wilderness and the glasshouses collapsed, leaving only their brick base. The Garden, which is still under restoration, was re-opened by the nuns in 2000.