Mayo firm which designed monastery nominated for major accolade
A Mayo architectural firm which designed the first Benedictine monastery to be built in Ireland in 400 years has been nominated for the RIAI Public Choice Award.
Designed by Axo Architects, Ellison Street, Castlebar, the new monastery at Kylemore Abbey is among 48 designs shortlisted for the prestigious award.
Located in west Connemara 15.5 kilometres from Leenane, Kylemore Abbey, underwent a multi-million euro refurbishment in recent years.
This involved the construction of a new monastery which is now home to 15 nuns and the redevelopment of some of the interior and exterior of the main building.
Delivered at a cost of €10 million, the new monastery was designed to afford privacy to the nuns while ensuring they remain at the centre of Kylemore Abbey.
Axo Architects, led by Westport man Michael Horan, has won other awards for their work on Kylemore Abbey.
This includes the Kylemore Abbey Interpretation Project - which preceded the official opening of the new monastery in 2024.
Completed in 2019, the Kylemore Abbey Interpretation Project saw construction of new visitor’s route, external landscaping and re-interpretation of several rooms destroyed by fire in 1959.
Boasting a six-acre walled garden that has been open to the public since 1999, Kylemore Abbey is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Connemara.
It draws an estimated 500,000 visitors every year and employs up to 150 people at the height of the tourist season.
Kylemore Abbey was originally built by Manchester-based industrialist Mitchell Henry as a gift for his wife Margaret that was inspired by their honeymoon in the area.
The property was sold to the Benedictine order of nuns in 1920.
The nuns, who arrived in Connemara from Belgium after fleeing the First World War, have lived in Kylemore Abbey ever since.
Their new monastery was due to open in 2020 in time for the centenary of the Benedictine’ arrival to Kylemore but was delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic and construction inflation.
Before the new monastery opened, the nuns had lived in a farmhouse on the castle grounds since 2007.
The new monastery was officially opened by Archbishop of Tuam, Francis Duffy, last year, who described the occasion as “a very rare event in Ireland and perhaps in western Europe."
Scoil Naomh Bhríde in Ballina, designed by Simon J Kelly Architects, and the Mulranny-WAY by Brock Finucane, are two other Mayo projects shortlisted for the RIAI Public Choice Award.
Voting for the RIAI Public Choice Award closes on June 16.