Creating A School

Kylemore Abbey education was important part of the entire Abbey community. The Benedictine nuns have always had a tradition of education. When they were known as the “Irish Dames of Ypres”, Irish nobility  sent their daughters to be educated by the Benedictine nuns in their ancient Belgian Abbey. When the nuns came to Kylemore, they went about transforming the castle into an Abbey and created an international boarding school. The school was exclusivity for girls only. The principal reception rooms and bedrooms in the Abbey were converted into classrooms with other rooms being converted into dormitories. The school was formally opened in 1923. 30 pupils were enrolled on the appointment day. The students received an education drawn up in accordance with the principles of Benedictine education and on the lines of a public secondary school. From the beginning, the school was seen as a ‘high-class school’ offering ‘all the advantages of a Continental education without the necessity for lengthened travel’. The school was also known as one of Ireland’s most prestigious girls’ schools that was famous world-wide. It had numerous foreign students arriving to study in the beautiful environment of Connemara. Many of them came to improve their language knowledge. Even though there were students from another continents most of them were from European countries.