The Heritage Town of Kells

Kells is a delightful small town with one of the very best collections of the sculpture and buildings of the early Christians.Kells is most famous for its 8th century Book of Kells, which is one of the most beautiful books in the world. A manuscript of the Four Gospels, it was completed in Kells in the monastic site and sent to Trinity College for safekeeping in the 17th century, where it still remains.

The highlights of ancient Kells are clustered in the monastic site, with its round tower and four Celtic crosses in the churchyard.

Across the road is one of the oldest monastic buildings in Ireland, known at St. Colmcille’s House. A fifth cross, known as the Market Cross, stood close by on a traffic island, but it was removed for safety down the hill to the Heritage Centre, located in the beautifully restored old courthouse, designed by the famous Francis Johnston in 1801.

The Spire of Loyd nearby, which looks like a lighthouse, is worth a visit and gives a wonderful view of the country round about.

Headfort House which was designed by the renowned Irish architect, George Semple for the Earl of Bective, Sir Thomas Taylor, in the 18th century, houses the only suite of Robert Adam interiors to survive in Ireland, and is now being restored under the care of the Headfort Trust and the World Monuments Fund.

Teltown, nearby, was the location for the famous Tailteann Games, which formed the template for the ancient Olympic Games.

Kells – A Longer Look

From its earliest mention in the Annals of the Four Masters when a dun settlement was first built here in 1207 BC, Kells has had a long and checkered history.

The site in Kells is considered by many historians to be one of the finest examples of a monastic settlement. Written sources from the 11th and 12th centuries, show that Kells became one of the largest pre-Norman monastic centres in Ireland. A substantial part of the population were employed in education and artistic craftwork, as the town ran an important scriptorium and commissioned silversmiths and stonemasons. The success of Kells is evident by the magnitude of raids that it suffered from by the Vikings in the 10th century.

In the history of Kells one can retrace the footsteps of the monks, and follow their story of survival, of pluck and wit pitted against brawn and belligerence. Medieval monks were certainly pious, some reclusive, but most led colourful and imaginative lives. It was a question of survival in troubled times, of escaping the raids of plundering Vikings and keeping the flame of knowledge and culture alive in an age of darkness.

However, known in ancient times as Cúl Sibrille, as mentioned in the “Lebor Gabhala á la Érenn: The book of the taking of Ireland”, Kells was a royal residence and fort in times past. Legend has it that Cormac mac Airt had a residence here in the 3rd century, and Queen Maeve’s army pitched their pictched their camp here on her way to claim the legendary Brown bull of Cooley.

The name Kells derives from Kenlis, an anglicisation of the irish word ‘Ceann Lios’. Ceann Lios, meaning “head fort, seat or residence” appears to be another form of the name Ceannanas Mór. Kells, Kenlis and Headfort all feature in the titles taken by the Taylor family, and all contribute to local place names.

Diarmuid Mac Caroll (Cerbaill), High king of Tara from 539 until 558, is said to have granted the dun of Cenannus to Columba in the sixth century for the purpose of establishing a monastery. A monastery was founded there most probably in 554, that is nine years before Columba founded the monastery in Iona, Scotland.

Kells and Iona were always closely connected. Shortly after the burning of Iona by the Vikings in 802, its abbot fortunately got “a free grant of Kells without a battle” — for it had originally belonged to Columcille. Thereupon a “new religious city” — the old one being probably in ruins — was rebuilt in Kells; and the Abbot Cellach of Iona transferred his residence and insular primacy to Kells, which henceforward became the acknowledged head of the Columban houses.

During this and the two following centuries Kells became a great school of learning and art, and continued to flourish in spite of the frequent ravages of the Danes.

The Abbey of Kells was dissolved due to the ecclesiastical reforms of the 12th century. The abbey church was converted to a parish church and after the coming of the Anglo-Normans in the 12th century the monastery ceased.

In 1172 A.D. King Henry appointed Hugh de Lacy the new Lord of Meath, de Lacy set to work erecting strong castles in strategic situations, including one in Kells in 1176, a Norman manor. The castles in Ratoath and Kells were the only ones retained by the de Lacys as personal or demesne holdings. Walter de Lacy is credited with the granting of a charter for Kells sometime after 1194. In 1211, Kells was garrisoned by King John, who had temporally taken the lordship of Meath from Walter de Lacy, Hugh’s son. Kells became a walled town in the early 14th century – the earliest reference to the town walls at Kells is in a murage grant of 1326. From this time onwards, Kells became an important town and was a strong point in the Pale defences during the 15th century.

The castle in Kells was attacked and burned on numerous occasions, either by the natives or English until it was completely ruined in the 17th century.

In the 1650’s, Thomas Taylor, later first Earl of Bective, came to Ireland from Sussex, in England to oversee fiscal expenditure of Oliver Cromwell’s campaign in Ireland. He later assisted with Sir William Petty’s project of mapping Ireland (the Down Survey), and as a result was granted an estate with lands stretching from Kells to Virginia.

At this time Trim was the home to the county jail, giving rise to the ditty “Kells for brogues, Navan for rogues, and Trim for hanging people”.

Since that period the town has grown in size and stature to the thriving market town it is today. No trace of the castle can be found, and of the walls of the town only a small portion remains at the back of Cannon Street, along with a mural tower.

What has survived are the buildings from the earlier monastic city. The present day Kells is a bustling modern town, richly en
dowed with good eating houses, quality accommodation, and wide variety in its shops and boasts over 18 public houses of good quality.

Its sporting activities include golfing, fishing, tennis, horseriding and swimming.

Annual activities include drama (Kells Musical & Dramatic Society) and a wide variety of arts, the Hay Literery Festival, the Kells Type Trail, the Kells Road Races, the Guth Gafa Film Festival as well as the yearly St. Patrick’s Day Parade.