Kells, County Meath Kells, County Meath Kells (; ) is a town in County Meath, Ireland. The town lies off the M3 motorway, from Navan and from Dublin. It is best known as the site of Kells Abbey, from which the Book of Kells takes its name. The settlement was originally known by the Irish name "Ceannanas" or "Ceannanus", and it is suggested that the name 'Kells' developed from this. From the 12th century onward, the settlement was referred to in English and Anglo-Norman as Kenenus, Kenelles, Kenles, Kenlis, Kellis and finally Kells. It has also been suggested that Kenlis and Kells come
Kells Castle which was formerly the Gaelic Irish Kingdom of Osraige. It was abandoned by the following century when the focus of the town shifted to the bailey, and later to Kells Priory. Kells Castle Kells Castle or Kells Motte is a motte-and-bailey and National Monument in Kells, County Kilkenny, Ireland. Kells Castle is located just south of the Kells Bridge which crosses the Kings River, immediately behind Delaney's Bar. Motte-and-bailey castles were a primitive type of castle built after the Norman invasion, a mound of earth topped by a wooden palisade and tower. Kells motte was built on a gravel platform