Page 105 - WDT MAGAZINE IRELAND ISSUE WINTER 2018

Kylemore Castle, walled gardens and
improvements and hold on to his political career. To-
day, he rests next to Margaret in the little mausoleum chapel are one of the most popular
nestled in the Kylemore woods. tourist stops in Ireland. It’s history is as
William Montagu, Duke of Manchester was the next fascinating as its architecture.
owner of the Abbey. As a young man, Montagu inher-
ited a grand estate which included lavish residences
in England and Ireland. He lived lavishly and loved to
gamble; by age 23 he was bankrupt. His circumstance
changed for the better after he married the Cincinnati
heiress Helena Zimmerman. The Duke bought the Ab-
bey with his wife’s money but lost Kylemore in a late
night gambling session in the Castle.
Since the 1920s Kylemore has been a Benedictine
monastery and boarding school. Now just a handful of
nuns run the vast estate and tourist enterprise. Each
still works on some aspect of Abbey business includ-

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