Abbey of Kells to its presence at the abbey. Later in the same century, the monastery was dissolved with the abbey becoming a parish church and the Book of Kells continued to be kept there. Catholic landowners acquired the land. The Book of Kells remained at Kells until the 1650s when Cromwell's troops were stationed in the town. At that point it was sent to Dublin for safekeeping. In 1661, the Book of Kells ended up in Trinity College, Dublin where it has stayed ever since. Today, the monastic site includes a 10th-century round tower that rises around 90 feet from the original
Book of Kells of the 12th century. The abbey church was converted to a parish church in which the Book of Kells remained. The 12th-century writer Gerald of Wales, in his "Topographia Hibernica", described seeing a great Gospel Book in Kildare which many have since assumed was the Book of Kells. The description certainly matches Kells: Since Gerald claims to have seen this book in Kildare, he may have seen another, now lost, book equal in quality to the Book of Kells, or he may have misstated his location. The Book of Kells remained in Kells until 1654. In that year, Cromwell's cavalry