Beautiful Kells in County Meath

 I've passed through Kells in County Meath several times but only had the opportunity to wander around the town once.

 Little did I realise just how much I had been missing.

I got to spend half a day in Kells but a full day would barely cover the hidden gems that abound in Kells.

A little known fact concerning the town is that every year a delegation is sent from here to the Provost of Trinity College in Dublin to ask for the return of the illuminated manuscript that is its namesake, The Book of Kells.

 

Needless to say so far it remains unreturned although Saint Columba's Church of Ireland in the town has a copy on display and turn a new page each day.

In the grounds of Saint Columba's Church among a host of antiquities are 2 High Crosses, the Shaft of another High Cross, the base of a yet another High Cross and a beautiful Round Tower.

 

There is also an interesting stone Sun Dial c. 13/15th Century.

 

A 14th Century effigy slab of a male and female figure and the crucifixion scene is located inside the Church itself.

There are also several memorial plaques to some of those from the town who fell in WW1 and a Tower from an earlier Church with several stone heads and memorial plaques on the walls.

There are at least 2 Cross Slabs also to be found in the grounds of the Church.

There are enough points of interest in the Church and grounds alone to keep you occupied for a day.

Nearby but closed when I visited is a small stone Oratory referred to both as Saint Columb(a)'s House or The House of Colmcille. The Saint was known by both names. It is thought to originally be a 9th Cty Church and one of the smallest of its type in Ireland.

There is another beautiful 10th Cty High Cross located just outside the old Courthouse building at the junction of the Navan and Headford roads.

 

The Courthouse is now an Interpretive Centre but was closed when I visited.

The Cross depicts both Biblical and Hunting scenes and is covered overhead with a glass roofed structure for protection from the elements.

 

It would be nice to see more ancient artifacts afforded this type of protection from the effects of weathering. 

The details on the Cross are well preserved and it's well worth taking the time to see it.

Just across the road from the High Cross is Saint John's Cemetery where there was once an ecclesiastical site of The Hospital of Saint John the Baptist which would have been run by a religious order known as the Fratres Cruciferi. 

The Fratres Cruciferi are an obscure order who were known as the Crutched Friars and operated several hospitals in Ireland. 

They disappeared sometime after Henry VIII's Dissolution of the Monasteries in the 1530's. I believe they got their nickname from the Staff's they carried as they went about which resembled Crutches.

There is an intriguing effigy slab here known as the Abbess. 

I didn't take much notice at the time but looking at my old photographs I am wondering if the effigy is actually a Friar of the order Fratres Cruciferi. 

I am going chiefly on the type of Staff held by the figure.

 

The headgear is described as a Wimple but perhaps this too is mistaken as it does not look like a Wimple in my old photographs. Who Knows, not me anyway.

Just outside Kells on the road to Oldcastle lies what surely must be right up there with the best Follies in Ireland. It is the Spire of Lloyd. 

Having first seen the Spire in the distance I thought I was lost or seeing things. It appears like an ethereal Lighthouse towering in the distance except we are miles from the sea here.

 

There is an 164 step spiral staircase inside however the Tower was closed when I visited. 

It is located on a small plot of grassy Parkland complete with Picnic benches.

These are just a few of the things of interest to be found in and around Kells in Meath.

 There's much more to see if you can spare the time for further exploration in the area.

Keep the wheels turning.