The Secret of Kells The aged guilt-ridden Cellach is nearing death. Brendan and the abbot happily reunite, and Brendan displays the complete Book of Kells to his uncle. The film closes with an animation rendition of some of the illuminated pages of the book. The film is based on the story of the origin of the Book of Kells, an illuminated manuscript Gospel book in Latin, containing the four Gospels of the New Testament located in Dublin, Ireland. It also draws upon Celtic mythology; examples include its inclusion of Crom Cruach, a pre-Christian Irish deity and the reference to the poetic genre of Aislings,
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