The Book of Kells is on display at Trinity College Dublin. It is not in Kells. How it got there is a story of two moments, around 1653 and around 1661, and the gap between them matters. A manuscript sent away for safekeeping in a war is not the same as a manuscript given away by its town.
What was the Book doing in Kells before 1653?
It was being kept, used and guarded as the great gospel book of Colm Cille. The Annals of Ulster, under the year 1007, record that "the great Gospel of Columkille", called the chief relic of the western world, was stolen by night from the great stone church at Kells for the sake of its ornamented cover. It was found about two months later under a sod, its gold stripped away. In the late eleventh and twelfth centuries, records of land and property belonging to the monastery at Kells were copied onto blank pages of the Book itself. A poem was added in the fifteenth century. For centuries the Book was part of the life of the town.
What happened in Kells in the 1640s and 1650s?
War reached the church that held it. According to Trinity's own library, after the rebellion of 1641 the church at Kells lay in ruins. Trinity's visitor blog adds that in the 1650s Cromwell's soldiers were quartered in the building. A great gospel book in a wrecked church, in a garrison town, was in real danger.
Who sent the Book to Dublin, and why?
Charles Lambert, Earl of Cavan and governor of Kells, sent the manuscript to Dublin around 1653, in the interests of its safety. Trinity's visitor blog suggests it went to Dublin Castle. Some accounts give the year as 1654. Every serious account agrees on the reason: protection in a time of war. None describes a sale, and none describes the people of Kells deciding to part with it.
How did it get from Dublin to Trinity in 1661?
Through Henry Jones. Jones had been scoutmaster general to Cromwell's army in Ireland and was vice-chancellor of the University of Dublin. Trinity's library says the Book reached the college through his agency when he became Bishop of Meath in 1661. He also gave Trinity the Book of Durrow. His role in the Book of Kells was later forgotten for a time and only re-established by historians, as a paper in Irish Historical Studies records.
So the chain runs: kept in Kells for centuries, sent to Dublin for safety around 1653, placed in a college library around 1661. It has been on display in Trinity's Old Library since the mid-nineteenth century.
Was the Book ever given away by Kells?
Not by the town. The record shows a governor moving it for protection, and a Cromwellian official turned bishop handing it to a college. Kells does not appear in that record as a party that agreed to anything. That is why this campaign talks about a return home, and why we keep the two dates apart. Folding 1661 into 1653 makes a wartime rescue look like a settled transfer. It was not. Our shorter account, What really happened in 1653, makes the same point.
Where can you see it now, and what is Kells asking for?
The original is at Trinity College Dublin, 69 km from Kells. This site sells no tickets; if you want to see the leaves, book through Visit Trinity. Then come north and walk the town the name points to. Our visit page sets out what is where, and the FAQ has the short answers.
Made in Kells is asking for the Book to come home to Kells, permanently. No return has been agreed. If you want to help make the case, join the Friends of the Return, read why it is called the Book of Kells, or write to us at ColmTheKiller@MadeInKells.Com for a template letter to your councillor or TD.
The safekeeping was meant to protect the Book. It has lasted more than three and a half centuries. It is time the town got its book back.