page_title: Kells, County Meath
section_title: Places of interest
hierarchical_section_title: Kells, County Meath / Places of interest
caption_attribution_description: English: The Round Tower of Kells, County Meath, Ireland, dates from the 10th century. Is is 26 meters high and has a circumference of 15 meters. It has six floors, but no internal staircase: access was made by ladders. Each floor has a window; at its top, it has five more windows instead of four usually, corresponding to the five medieval gates and roads, to Canon, Carrick, Maudlin, Dublin and Farrell. It is mentioned in 1076 in the annals because of the murder in its walls of Murchadh, a self-proclamed High King of Ireland. It is there egally that the Book of Kells was found. Français&#160;: La tour ronde de Kells, ville irlandaise du comté de Meath, date du Xe siècle. Elle mesure 26 mètres de haut, et a une circonférence de 15 mètres. Elle possède six étages, sans escalier&#160;: l’accès se faisait par des échelles. Chaque étage possède une fenêtre&#160;; au sommet de la tour, on trouve cinq fenêtre supplémentaires, au lieu de quatre habituellement, qui correspondent aux cinq routes et portes médiévales de la ville, vers Canon, Carrick, Maudlin, Dublin et Farrell. Elle est mentionnée en 1076 dans les annales, à cause du meurtre en ses murs de Murchadh, roi suprême d’Irlande autoproclamé. C’est aussi en ses murs qu’a été découvert le Livre de Kells.
context_page_description: Kells is a town in County Meath, Ireland. The town lies off the M3 motorway, 16 km from Navan and 65 km from Dublin. It is best known as the site of Kells Abbey, from which the Book of Kells takes its name.
context_section_description: The Kells Monastic Site, with its round tower, is associated with St Colmcille (also known as Columba), the Book of Kells, now kept at Trinity College Dublin and the Kells Crozier, exhibited at the British Museum. The round tower and five large Celtic crosses can still be viewed today. Four of the crosses are in the churchyard of St Columba's church. The other Celtic cross was positioned in the middle of a busy crossroads until an accident involving a school bus. It now stands in front of a former courthouse. A roof protects the cross from the elements. Curiously, a replica is completely safe from the elements inside the museum.
  Close by the graveyard of St. Columba's church stands a small stone roofed Oratory (St. Colmcille's House). This probably dates from the 11th century. Access to the monks' sleeping accommodation aloft is by ladder.  This small rectangular building is positioned at one of the highest points in the town. The Oratory is kept locked, but visitor access can be arranged.
  Just outside the town of Kells on the road to Oldcastle is the hill of Lloyd, named after Thomas Lloyd of Enniskillen, who camped a large Williamite army here during the wars of 1688-91 against the Jacobites. Here also stands a 30m high building called the Spire of Lloyd, which is an 18th-century lighthouse folly, the area around the tower has been developed as a community park (The People's Park), and includes the Paupers' Grave. This cemetery was a necessity in the times of great poverty in the country. Mass is still celebrated there annually and the cemetery is a reminder of the Workhouse and extreme poverty engendered by changes in farming practice in the 19th century and during the Famine.
caption: Kells Kells Round Tower dates from the 10th century
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