The complex was built between 1867 and 1871 as Kylemore Castle by Mitchell Henry, a wealthy doctor from London. In 1920, the estate was purchased by Benedictine nuns who had fled Belgium during the First World War. They transformed the castle into Kylemore Abbey. The Neo-Gothic main building covers more than 3,700 m² and has more than 70 rooms. From 1923 to 2010, the nuns ran a renowned international boarding school for girls there.