Kylemore Abbey
Hey guys!
Quick question: What's your favorite breakfast food?
Dia dhuit!
Hello and welcome to more tales of Ireland!
Today I'll be talking about:
KYLEMORE ABBEY
We started the morning off right at the Riverwalk House B&B with a wonderful breakfast!
The B&B was run by the cutest couple, Anne and Patrick, and their Old Irish Sheepdog, Panda.
They were so nice and proper and the house was clean and run beautifully!
Everywhere in Ireland that serves breakfast will offer the Traditional Full Irish Breakfast, which is VERY interesting!
The breakfast includes eggs, vegetables, sausages, potatoes, white pudding and black pudding.
Black pudding is also known as blood sausage.
Needless to say I never ate the black pudding!
After breakfast we were off into the countryside!
We made a few stops at some abandoned places and down a few back roads.
It was rainy but every once in awhile, the sun peaked out from behind the clouds and made a rainbow!
The rolling green hills turned into rocky, grassy mountains as we traveled closer and closer to our destination.
Soon enough we arrived!
Kylemore Abbey!
Kylemore has been through a lot since it's creation starting in 1867.
The land was originally purchased by Mitchell Henry for his wife, Margaret. It was a gift to her and a place for their family to grow.
Mitchell was an eye surgeon and with his fortune he started building their castle.
On the whole estate there are 33 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, 4 sitting rooms, a ballroom, a billiard room, a library, a study, a school room, a smoking room, a gun room, offices, domestic staff residences, gardens, walks and woodlands that cover 13,000 acres.
And yet, it retains a cozy sense of family because of it's original intended purpose to be a home.
The castle itself has all kinds of symbolism carved into it's walls. From the large stone angle above the front door, standing for Margaret;
To the carvings of birds found all over, representing the hope that the castle would be a "nesting place" for the Henry's family.
Margaret was well loved by all the local tenants.
She was a kind and lovely Lady of the Country.
She enjoyed the outdoors, had an eye for beauty and traveled often.
While away on Holiday in Egypt with her children, she fell ill and passed away only two weeks later.
Mitchell was heartbroken.
It was said she was displayed at the home in a glass coffin, so everyone could see her beauty for one last time.
She was laid to rest peacefully in a mausoleum in the forest on the estate.
After her death, for a lasting testament of his love, Mitchell built a church for his wife.
Paying acute attention, every detail of the church is reminiscent of Margaret's soft nature, beauty, and kindness.
Instead of gargoyles, the church has angels.
Instead of spades, the church has leaves, vines and roses.
Even the windows are shaped like flowers.
We loved being there and learning about the estate.
Sitting in Margaret's church and having the sense of peace and kindness come over you was a wonderful experience. You could really feel the love in the stones.
We even visited the mausoleum where Margaret and eventually Mitchell were laid to rest together.
Continuing the story of the estate:
Much later, after numerous owners, the Kylemore estate was purchased by Benedictine nuns and it was converted into Kylemore Abbey.
From 1923 to 2010, there was also a boarding school for girls being run at the castle.
Now, if you go to visit, only the bottom floor of the castle is open because the upper floors are a working monastery.
Although we did only see one Nun the whole time we were there..
The Sister's at the Abbey run a cafeteria and we stopped to get lunch before continuing on with our explorations of the grounds!
They had shelves of candies, baskets of breads and muffins, and cases full of cakes and casseroles!
It was very busy, so we hurried along to more of the estate and our day went on!
So there you have it! The first half of our experiences at Kylemore Abbey! My next post is going to be about the gardens and forests at Kylemore, so don't miss it!
Let me know in the comments if you'd want a church built for you. I know I definitely would!
Thanks so much!
- Desert Hare
