Benedictine nuns land an €800,000 windfall from Kylemore Abbey firm
THE nuns’ trust that owns the iconic Kylemore Abbey and Gardens last year enjoyed a €800,000 windfall as the Co Galway attraction enjoyed further growth.
New accounts show that Kylemore Abbey and Gardens Ltd, which is owned by Benedictine nuns, made a charitable donation of €800,000 to the nuns’ Kylemore Trust last year.
In addition, the trust also charged rent of €800,000 to Kylemore Abbey and Gardens which operates the visitor attraction.
Last year, visitor numbers at Kylemore increased from 300,000 to 320,000.
Kylemore is open year round and visitor numbers are split between 80pc overseas and 20pc Irish.
Through their firm, Kylemore Abbey and Gardens Ltd, the nuns took back the running of the Co Galway tourist attraction at the end of 2014.
All of the €800,000 is expected to be ploughed back into capital expenditure at the attraction.
The resort firm has recently tendered for contractors to bid to put in place new exhibition space.
The profits at Kylemore will also fund critical conservation and restoration work at the attraction.
After the Kylemore Abbey and Gardens Ltd made the charitable donation to the Trust last year, it recorded profits of €28,880 for 2016.
The cash pile at the nuns’ Abbey and Gardens Ltd firm increased from €346,795 to €440,199.
Numbers employed increased to 79 with staff costs of €1.84m. The firm owed €903,594 to the Trust at year end.