Kells

Ceanannas Mor became a major monastic centre in the ninth century when monks from Iona, driven out by Viking raids, resettled here - and the manuscript now called the Book of Kells was almost certainly finished, and possibly begun, in that community. The book itself is in Trinity College Dublin and has been since the seventeenth century; a facsimile is displayed in the town. What remains here is the setting: a round tower of about twenty-six metres, five high crosses including the unfinished Market Cross and the tenth-century South Cross with its scriptural panels, and Saint Columba's House, a small stone-roofed oratory of around the ninth century with a hidden upper chamber. The crosses have suffered from weather and, in the case of the Market Cross, from a road accident in 1996. The town around them is an ordinary working one with limited interpretation.

What's there

• The round tower - about twenty-six metres, in the churchyard.
• The five high crosses - including the unfinished Market Cross.
• Saint Columba's House - a ninth-century stone-roofed oratory.
• The manuscript link - the community where the Book of Kells was made.

When to go

April to October. Access to Saint Columba's House is by key from a local keyholder or through the visitor centre - arrange it rather than assuming it is open.

Practical notes

The Book of Kells is not here - it is in Dublin, and only a facsimile is shown. Saint Columba's House needs a key. Some crosses are weathered to the point where the carving is hard to read.

Nearby

Loughcrew is west; Navan, Trim and the Boyne Valley sites are south-east.