Kylemore Abbey in Galway - Worth Seeing?

I cannot recommend Kylemore Abbey highly enough! My son and I visited it on a February afternoon. We were alone there except for another couple and a family. Even in the winter it is a gorgeous place. It's true that you only see a small portion of the abbey itself (it is a private school), but that was the least important part of the visit to us. The highlight was the little neo-Gothic chapel that was built for the family who owned the house. It has been relatively recently restored, and is done entirely in different colors of Connemara marble - green, pink, blue, grey - and stained glass. There was soft choral music playing while we were there and both of us (and the other couple) had a truly spiritual experience. None of us could really explain what we felt, but it was one of the highlights of our trip. After the visit to the chapel, we toured the open part of the house. As we were headed back to the foyer to leave, we overheard the girls of the school having choir practice in the big hall (we couldn't peek in, only listen from the hallway). They were singing a traditional Irish song, and the whole group of us stood there in the hall in silence until they were done. Maybe we just got lucky, but we had a wonderful time. There is also a Victorian garden that they say is very worth visiting, but it wasn't open in February. The views from the house are really stunning, and you can just imagine what it was like to have lived in that beautiful place.

It is a lovely place and worth a trip if you are in the area. I don't think I liked it as much as Nancy, but I did like it. I agree that the chapel was very cool, and I really liked the gardens. It's very close to Connemara National Park, which is beautiful and offers some enjoyable hiking.

We stopped here for a potty break on a RS tour. We didn't go in the Abbey, but the view from the visitor center across the pond is one of the most photogenic spots in Ireland. I'll let others speak for the activities in the Abbey itself, but there are other cool spots near by, it would be worth a stop to look around, but I wouldn't expect you'd use any more than an hour of your day trip.

I'll agree with the others. The view of the Abbey is just classic. That and the chapel were worth the trip.