Press kit

Facts for Journalists

A one-page brief you can quote. Print this page or copy what you need. For interviews and images, email us.

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Boilerplate: Made in Kells is a community campaign from Kells, Co. Meath. We believe the Book of Kells was written and created here. It was taken away. It simply needs to be returned home. Not a loan.

c. 800
Written and created in Kells, we believe
806
Columban monks flee Viking massacre on Iona and settle in Ceanannas Mór
847
Years kept in Kells, from the monks’ arrival in 806 to removal in 1653
1653
Sent to Dublin by Charles Lambert, Earl of Cavan, for safety — not sold
1661
Donated to Trinity College Dublin by Henry Jones, then Bishop of Meath
500K+
Annual visitors to see it in Dublin — none of that revenue reaches Kells
80 km
Distance from Trinity College Library back to Kells

What we are asking for: the return of the Book of Kells to Kells — the town that named it. Our campaign holds that it was written and created here. Not a loan. A homecoming.

What we are not asking for: a half-measure that leaves the manuscript in Dublin. The people who took the glory need to answer why it is still there.

Key places in Kells today: Round Tower, five High Crosses on the former abbey site, St Columba’s House, Courthouse hub — a National Monument landscape waiting for its manuscript.

Contact: ColmTheKiller@MadeInKells.Com · madeinkells@gmail.com · madeinkells.com · #BringItHomeToKells

Suggested pull-quote: “It is not called the Book of Dublin. It is not called the Book of Trinity. It is called the Book of Kells — and that name is not a coincidence. It is an address.”