They say that when the Celts became Christians, their old gods and goddesses changed themselves into fairies and went into hiding in the green hills that dot the Irish landscape.
Steeped in folklore, so green is Ireland—forty shades of green according to country singer Johnny Cash—that it is called the “Emerald Isle”, the first mention of which was in a poem by William Drennan (1754 – 1820).
When Erin first rose from the dark swelling flood,
God bless’d the green island and saw it was good;
The em’rald of Europe, it sparkled and shone,
In the ring of the world the most precious stone.
In her sun, in her soil, in her station thrice blest,
With her back towards Britain, her face to the West,
Erin stands proudly insular, on her steep shore,
And strikes her high harp ‘mid the ocean’s deep roar. William Drennan
Shaped by the rain, the wind, and the lashing of the ocean, the spectacular landscape of Ireland is celebrated the world over in song and story.
One day in the 1720s, Irish writer and clergyman Jonathan Swift was out boating on Lough Ennell, when he turned to look back at the shore where Lilliput House stood. He noticed how small people appeared at that great distance and was inspired to write his most famous work—Gulliver’s Travels.
With sweeping vistas, rugged mountains, striking coastline, tranquil lakes and rivers, and quaint country villages, these images of the Emerald Isle and its people will transport you to a magical time and place.
Eccles Hotel, Glengariff. County Cork, Ireland
Cliffs at Moher. County Clare, Ireland
Blarney Castle. County Cork, Ireland
Killary Bay, Connemara. County Galway, Ireland
Giant’s Causeway, County Antrim, Ireland
Lover’s Leap, Dargle. County Wicklow, Ireland
Serpent Lake, Gap of Dunloe, Killarney. County Kerry, Ireland
Rope Bridge, Carrick-a-Rede. County Antrim, Ireland
Quays Waterford, Ireland
Tunnel near Glengariff. County Cork, Ireland
Achill Head. County Mayo, Ireland
Glenoe Village. County Antrim, Ireland
Innisfallen, Killarney. County Kerry, Ireland
Glenariff, County Antrim, Ireland
Rustic Bridge in Glenariff. County Antrim, Ireland
Garron Tower Hotel. County Antrim, Ireland
Bray, County Wicklow, Ireland
Sugar Loaf Mountain, from Powerscourt. County Wicklow, Ireland
Dunmore, III. County Waterford, Ireland
Waterford. County Waterford, Ireland
Old Weir Bridge. Killarney. County Kerry, Ireland
Garinish Island, Parknasilla. County Kerry, Ireland
The Macgillicuddy Reeks, Killarney. County Kerry, Ireland
Ross Castle, II, Killarney. County Kerry, Ireland
Irish spinner and spinning wheel. County Galway, Ireland
The Harbor, Kingstown. County Dublin, Ireland
The Harbor, Kingstown. County Dublin, Ireland
Phoenix Park, Dublin. County Dublin, Ireland
St. Stephen’s Green Park, Dublin. County Dublin, Ireland
Sackville Street and O’Connell Bridge, Dublin. County Dublin, Ireland
Bundoran. County Donegal, Ireland
Killybegs. County Donegal, Ireland
Donegal Castle. County Donegal, Ireland
St. Finbar’s Cathedral. County Cork, Ireland
From Roches Royal Hotel, Glengariff Harbor. County Cork, Ireland
The year was 1871. Wealthy financier and Member of Parliament Mitchell Henry (1826 – 1910) was standing with his wife on the shores of a lake in County Galway, Ireland, admiring their new fairytale castle.
It had taken one hundred men four years to complete. But gazing across the lake at the castle’s reflection in the still waters, the couple knew it was worth the wait.
The fairytale dream
Their dream had been forged 16 years earlier when they honeymooned at this exact spot. Renting Kylemore Lodge, the Henrys had fallen in love with the bewitching beauty of the landscape.
Connemara. Credit Michal OsmendaKylemore Abbey in County Galway on the beautiful west coast of Ireland
Inheriting a sizeable fortune from his father, a wealthy cotton merchant from Manchester, England, no expense had been spared. Covering 40,000 square feet, with seventy rooms and made from granite shipped in by sea from Dalkey and limestone from Ballinasloe, it had cost £18,000 to build (about $3 million today).
Kylemore Abbet. Credit Hans-Peter Eckhardt
Kylemore Abbey, Letterfrack, Co. Galway. Credit Jim
But Mitchell Henry’s dream was bigger than Kylemore Castle. He gave up his career as a medical doctor to take over the family business and entered politics as Member of Parliament for Galway County.
With much of Ireland still recovering from the Great Irish Famine of 1845-52, Henry wanted to help the local community by providing work, shelter and a school. He drained thousands of acres of waste marshland, turning it into the productive Kylemore Estate and providing material and social benefits to the entire region.
Mitchell Henry, MP for County Galway 1871 – 1885
Victorian Walled Gardens
Included as part of the Kylemore Estate were large, walled Victorian Gardens, with 21 heated glass houses and a 60-foot banana house, growing exotic fruit and vegetables of all kinds.
Ornamental garden surrounded by brick wall and six iron framed glass-houses
Tragedy strikes
Just four short years later, Henry’s wife Margaret suddenly died from a fever contracted in Egypt.
Overwhelmed by grief, he built a beautiful memorial church on the shore of the lake about a mile from the castle, where Margaret was laid to rest and where he would eventually join her.
Kylemore Abbey neo-Gothic church. Credit High Contrast
Built from Caen sandstone with internal columns of green Connemara marble, the church is a scaled-down replica of the neo-Gothic Bristol Cathedral.
Neo-gothic church at KylemoreKylemore in 1895
The Duke and Duchess of Manchester
What does an English Duke do when he finally runs out of money and cannot repay his gambling debts? Why, he elopes with an American heiress and escapes to a castle on a lake in Ireland.
Such was the next chapter in the story of Kylemore.
In 1903, Mitchell Henry sold Kylemore to William Angus Drogo Montague, 9th Duke of Manchester. A notorious spendthrift, Manchester succeeded his father in the Dukedom at the age of fifteen.
His excessive spending and gambling drained the family fortune, but as luck would have it, he met Helena Zimmerman, daughter of Eugene Zimmerman, a railroad magnate and major stockholder in Standard Oil.
Kylemore Abbey interior. Credit Textman
Much to the chagrin of the locals, the Duke and Duchess were far more concerned with lavishly entertaining guests than they were in managing the estate.
While the Duke was away in Europe and America, often as a paid guest of wealthy Americans like media mogul Randolph Hearst, the Duchess was seen speeding along country lanes in her Daimler motor car—quite the site in 1900s Connemara!
Some say the Duke lost Kylemore in a late night of gambling at the castle, but one thing for certain is that after Eugene Zimmerman died, the money to fund a life of partying dried up, and the Duke and Duchess were forced to sell.
A sanctuary from war-torn Europe
Kylemore Castle’s next owners were a group of Benedictine nuns from Belgium who had fled the horrors of World War One.
Before the war, the nun’s home town of Ypres, with its 20,000 inhabitants, engaged in nothing more than the peaceful pursuit of making Valenciennes lace.
Valenciennes Lace. Credit Carolus
Then the war arrived on their doorstep.
Chateau Wood Ypres, 1917Aerial photo of Ypres Belgium, 1917
The ravages of the First World War turned one of Belgium’s most beautiful and historic cities into nothing more than a ghostly shell of its former glory.
The ruins of Ypres, Belgium
Escaping the devastation of their beloved Ypres—their home base for three hundred and forty years—the nuns settled into Kylemore Castle in 1920 and converted it into the working Kylemore Abbey.
Restoring the Kylemore Abbey’s Victorian gardens and neo-gothic church have been major projects aided by donations and the work of local artisans.
Walled Victorian Gardens. Credit Dolly442Kylemore Abbey garden. Credit High ContrastKylemore Abbey. Credit High Contrast
Kylemore Abbey continues to be a self-sustaining working monastery and the Victorian gardens are open to the public.
Mitchell and Margaret Henry can rest at peace knowing their dream castle is in safe hands.
Saint Patrick was a 5th-century Christian missionary from a Romano-British family.
Ireland’s primary patron saint, St Patrick spent most of his life dedicated to teaching Christianity across Ireland.
Known as the “Apostle of Ireland”, to help teach Christianity to his pagan followers, he combined the sun cross with the Christian cross to form the Celtic Cross and used the shamrock as a metaphor for the Christian Holy Trinity.
His life is honored every year on March 17.
Saint Patrick Catholic Church, stained glass, Junction City, Ohio. Credit Nheyob
St. Patrick’s Day is an enchanted time – a day to begin transforming winter’s dreams into summer’s magicAdrienne Cook
Church buildings around the world are named after St Patrick. Here are three of the most beautiful.
Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin, Ireland
The choir of St Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin, Ireland. Credit David Iliff
Founded in 1191, Saint Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin is the largest church in Ireland.
St Patrick’s Cathedral Lady Chapel, Dublin, Ireland. Credit David Iliff
From humble beginnings as a Celtic parish church, in 1192 Dublin’s first Anglo-Norman Archbishop raised its status to a collegiate church devoted to both worship and learning.
St Patrick’s Cathedral Nave, Dublin, Ireland. Credit David Iliff
With donations collected across Ireland, reconstruction began on the glorious English Gothic style cathedral.
St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin. Credit Miguel Mendez
The author Jonathan Swift, who wrote Gulliver’s Travels, was Dean of the cathedral from 1713 to 1745.
St. Patrick’s Cathedral Choir as seen from the Nave. Credit Andreas F. BorchertLady Chapel St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin. Credit Adrian GrycukSt. Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin. Credit Tony WebsterSt Patricks Cathedral Dublin. Credit Suzanne de Gunst
The Cathedral of St. Patrick, Manhattan, New York City
Saint Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City. Credit Steve Kelley
A prominent landmark of New York City, St. Patrick’s Cathedral is a Neo-Gothic Roman Catholic cathedral church in Midtown Manhattan.
St. Patrick’s Cathedral, New York. Credit Ingfbruno
Designed by James Renwick, Jr., work began on August 15, 1858, but was halted during the civil war, and later completed in 1878.
St. Patrick’s Cathedral, New York City. Credit slack12, flickr
Accommodating 3,000 people, the cathedral spans a whole city block, between 50th and 51st streets, Madison Avenue and Fifth Avenue.
St. Patrick’s Cathedral, New York City. Credit Bryce Edwards, flickrSt Patrick’s Cathedral, New York. Credit Carmelo Bayarcal
Rising 330 feet (101 meters), the twin spires were a later addition in 1888.
St Patrick’s Cathedral, New York, viewed from the Rockefeller Center. Credit J.M. Luijt
St Patrick’s cathedral became a National Historic Landmark in 1976.
Saint Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City. Credit Jean-Christophe Benoist
Among many notable people, St Patrick’s held requiem masses for Babe Ruth, Vince Lombardi, Ed Sullivan, and Robert F. Kennedy.
Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, New York City, Credit Sracer357
Cathedral of Saint Patrick (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania)
Nave, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Harrisburg Historic District. Credit Bestbudbrian
The Cathedral of Saint Patrick in downtown Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, is part of the Harrisburg Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places.
Crossing and Dome of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Harrisburg Historic District. Credit Bestbudbrian
Completed in 1907, the Baroque- and Renaissance-Revival cathedral is capped with a classically influenced dome. Granite from North Carolina covers the exterior.
The Cathedral of Saint Patrick in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Credit Farragutful
The interior features oriental marble wainscoting, topped with Connemara marble.
The original altar was styled after the Bernini altar at the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament in St. Peter’s Basilica, Rome.
Chancel, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Harrisburg Historic District. Credit Bestbudbrian
The main nave is flanked by granite columns that support a vaulted ceiling.
St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Harrisburg Historic District. Credit Bestbudbrian
The forty-four stained glass windows in the nave were imported from Munich, Germany.
Nave window, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Harrisburg Historic District. Credit BestbudbrianCathedral of Saint Patrick – Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Credit Farragutful
The original pulpit featured carved figures of four evangelists with the Lamb of God standing on the Mystic mount and styled after a fresco found in the Roman Catacombs.
St. Joseph Altar, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Harrisburg Historic District. Credit Bestbudbrian
