Ceanannus Mór
[key] or Kells, town , Co. Meath, NE Republic of Ireland, on
the Blackwater River. It is a market town and was once a royal residence for
Irish kings. Computer cabinets are made there. Noteworthy are the relic of
an ancient monastery founded in the 6th cent. by St. Columba, the round
tower, and several ancient crosses. The Book of Kells, now one
of the treasures of the Trinity College library in Dublin, is a beautifully illuminated
manuscript of the Latin Gospels, with notes on local history, found in the
ancient monastery and believed to have been written in the 8th cent. The
manuscript is generally regarded as the finest example of Celtic
illumination.
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