Kells, County Meath, is designated as a "Heritage Town". The name "Kells" may be traced back to old Irish "Ceannanus Mor" by means of Norman corruption to "Kenlis", finally anglicised to Kells. Ceannanus means "Head Fort".
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.
The Abbey of Kells, with its round tower, is associated with St. Columba (also called St. Colmcille) and with the Book of Kells, written in Kells, and now kept at Trinity College Dublin.
The round tower and five large Celtic crosses can still be viewed today.
Close by the graveyard of St. Columba's church stands a small stoned roofed Oratory (St. Colmcille's House) which probably dates from the 11th century. Access to the monks' sleeping accommodation aloft is by ladder. The Oratory is kept locked, but visitor access can be arranged.
Just outside the town on the road to Oldcastle, stands the Spire of Loyd, an 18th century folly in the form of a lighthouse erected to the memory of Sir Thomas Taylor, 1st Earl of Bective.. The tower is approx. 100 feet high, and from the top one can see magnificent views of the surrounding countryside and as far as the Mourne Mountains on a clear day.
Headfort House, close by, 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, also close by, was the location for the famous Tailteann Games, which formed the template for the ancient Olympic Games.
What's on in Kells - News & Events
More about Kells can be found here
