Description
Connemara, County Galway, Ireland
Its fairy-tale history started in 1849 when Mitchell Henry the son of a wealthy Manchester cotton merchant, married Margaret Vaughan and visited Connemara that was just beginning to recover from the devastating effects of the potato famine a few years earlier. He was so captivated by the scenery that he promised to build his wife a Gothic castle there, which he did between the years 1867-1871 named Kylemore Abbey or Kylemore Castle
The happy days he spent here with his wife and children came to an abrupt end with her sudden death in 1874 during their family holiday to Egypt when Margaret contracted dysentery and died sixteen days later. She was a beautiful 45 year old lady and a mother of nine
Mitchell could not bear the thought of having her lie in the cold ground of a foreign country. So he immediately set about building this Neo-Gothic Church in memory of his wife Margaret. This beautiful Gothic church is a true testament of his love for Margaret.
