This story took place between 1920, when the Benedict Nuns arrived at Kylemore, and 1922, when the Black and Tans left Galway after the signing of the Anglo-Irish Peace Treaty in December 1921.

Patrick Carney, my father, was born in Cornamona, County Galway, in 1900. He was one of several young men in the area who championed the cause of Irish…

Kylemore Abbey is located in one of Ireland’s most unique landscapes –- Connemara. Described by Oscar Wilde as “a savage beauty," it is a region of awe-inspiring, unspoiled and natural beauty. Its patchwork of lakes, rugged mountains, and windswept bogs certainly gives a sense of splendid isolation.

The Abbey…