Kylemore Abbey is a Benedictine monastery founded in 1920 on the grounds of Kylemore Castle, in Connemara, County Galway.
The abbey was founded for Benedictine Nuns who fled Belgium in World War I.
Kylemore Castle was built in 1868 as a private home for the family of Mitchell Henry, a wealthy doctor from London whose family was involved in textile manufacturing.
Henry became a politician and an MP for County Galway from 1871 to 1885.
The castle was sold to the Duke and Duchess of Manchester in 1903, who resided there before being forced to sell the house and grounds because of gambling debts.
In 1920, the Irish Benedictine Nuns purchased the Abbey castle and lands after they were forced to flee Ypres during World War I. The nuns had been based in Ypres for several hundred years.
Since 2015, the Abbey has entered a partnership with the University of Notre Dame. The abbey hosts academic programs for Notre Dame students, and the university renovated spaces in the abbey.
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