St. Columb's House · Photo: August Schwerdfeger · CC BY 4.0Kells: 80 buildings on the National Inventory
Kells is a historic town on the Sites and Monuments Record, which lists 43 archaeological sites inside it. The earliest building recorded goes back to 1720. For every 10,000 residents, Kells has 121 buildings on the record; the typical town has 48. Of its homes, 6.7% were built before 1919, against 3.4% in the typical town.
typical town: 48
Old and new: 4 photos and 1 old views of Kells
Kells as it was in 1897, in old photographs. 3 of the places on Kells’s record are pictured here; the others show their record card. Among them: St. Columb's House and Kells Round Tower.
Kells Round TowerArchaeological monument (SMR)
Saint Columba's Church (Kells)Regional rating (NIAH)
Tower of LloydRegional rating (NIAH)+1See all photosPhotos from Wikimedia Commons, copied to our own server, each credited to its photographer with its licence; names open the place’s page. Tap a photo to step through them full screen.
Kells in old photos
1 old photograph, made before 1950.
1897From Wikimedia Commons, copied to our own server: public domain, or from the National Library of Ireland’s collections (Lawrence, Poole, Eason and others) with no known copyright restrictions. Each credit opens the image’s page.
Where Kells’s history is
Every building and site on the record inside the town, by its rating.
Hover a dot for its name; tap one to open its page.
The National Inventory of Architectural Heritage is the State’s survey of buildings from 1700 to today, county by county; each record gives a rating, dates, a type and an appraisal. Being on it is not legal protection: that is each council’s Record of Protected Structures.
Points from the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage and the Sites and Monuments Record, Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (CC BY 4.0).
82 historic places in Kells
Buildings rated Regional, of significance in their region, and archaeological monuments with an encyclopedia article.
All 43, A to Z
39 recorded by their type and address
39 are recorded only by their type and address: 32 homes, 2 inns, shops and warehouses and 2 public buildings; most date from the 19th century.
Headfort Place has the most
Streets with three or more buildings on the record, by the address it gives.
Of the 82 records, 80 give a street address.
More homes than anything else in Kells: 66%
The newest record in Kells dates from 1955. Compared with the National Inventory (6%), Kells has a high share of public buildings: 10%. Among the highest-rated: Saint John's Cemetery and Lisieux.
Types as the National Inventory records them, grouped; a building keeps the type it was built as.
Most of Kells’s dated buildings come from the 19th century
Each building by the first date on its record.
25 of the 80 dated ones were built before 1800. The oldest is Saint John's Cemetery, from 1720.
Archaeology in Kells
The Sites and Monuments Record lists every known archaeological site; most are field monuments with little to see. By kind:
43 archaeological sites inside the town
Sites on the Record of Monuments and Places, the statutory list drawn from this record, are protected by law: anyone planning work at or near one must give the National Monuments Service two months’ notice.
| Cross - High cross5 records |
| Church3 records |
| Cross-slab3 records |
| Font (present location)3 records |
| Tomb - effigial2 records |
| Memorial stone2 records |
| Graveyard2 records |
| Fulacht fia2 records |
| Historic town1 record |
| Castle - unclassified1 record |
| Town defences1 record |
| Round tower1 record |
| Stone head1 record |
| Armorial plaque1 record |
| Cross-inscribed stone1 record |
| 14 more kinds14 records |
Just outside Kells: 13
| Williamstown (country house)Regional rating (NIAH) · 1.7 km outside the town |
| Headfort House (stables)Regional rating (NIAH) · 1.1 km outside the town |
| Headfort House (demesne walls / gates / railings)Regional rating (NIAH) · 900 m outside the town |
| Headfort House (outbuilding)Regional rating (NIAH) · 1 km outside the town |
| Headfort House (stables)Regional rating (NIAH) · 1.1 km outside the town |
| Headfort House (demesne walls / gates / railings)Regional rating (NIAH) · 800 m outside the town |
| Headfort House (country house)Regional rating (NIAH) · 1 km outside the town |
| Williamstown (outbuilding)Regional rating (NIAH) · 1.8 km outside the town |
| Headfort House (bridge)Regional rating (NIAH) · 100 m outside the town |
| Williamstown (building misc)Regional rating (NIAH) · 1.7 km outside the town |
| Tower of LloydRegional rating (NIAH) · 100 m outside the town |
| Drumbaragh National SchoolRegional rating (NIAH) · 2.2 km outside the town |
| Headfort House (worker's house)Regional rating (NIAH) · 1 km outside the town |
Kells’s building boom came in the 2000s: 34% of its homes
Kells has an unusual share of homes built between the wars: 6.2%, where most towns have 3.9%. Building since 2011 in Kells, 5.6% of its homes, keeps pace with the norm of 5.8%. By 2001, Kells had built the greater part of the homes it has now.
Census 2022, households by the year their home was built (CSO, Small Area Population Statistics, CC BY 4.0); the typical town is the middle Irish town of 2,500 or more.
3 notable people born in Kells before 1900
From Thomas Betagh (1737) to Alice Stopford Green (1847): their lives on one timeline, earliest first.
Everyone born in Kells → Birthplaces from Wikidata, each checked against the person’s English Wikipedia article; portraits from Wikimedia Commons.
Kells and its neighbours
Kells in brief
Old houses are part of Kells’s character: 6.7% of its homes were built before 1919, against 3.4% in the typical town. All told, the list holds 82 places on the record. Per resident, it has more recorded buildings than 78% of Irish towns of 2,500 or more. Headfort Place alone has 17 places on the record.
Most entries on the list, 66%, are homes. Of the 80 with a date, 43 come from the 19th century. The oldest is Saint John's Cemetery, from 1720. Otherwise the figures are ordinary: it has 80 recorded buildings, about typical for a town its size (the middle one has 79).
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The National Inventory. The State’s survey of post-1700 buildings, made county by county since 1990 (NIAH); a few records are older. It records; it does not protect.
- Ratings. International and National: of significance across Ireland or beyond. Regional: in its region. Local and record-only buildings get no page here.
- Archaeology. The Sites and Monuments Record (National Monuments Service) lists known archaeological sites; the national monuments to visit and the sites with an encyclopedia article get pages here.
- Protection. Both registers are surveys, not protection: a building is protected by its council’s Record of Protected Structures, and no national open list joins the 31 councils’ records.
- The grade. Ireland’s History grade is not built yet: the page describes, and gives no grade.
Questions about Kells’s history
How many historic buildings are recorded in Kells?
80 buildings on the National Inventory, from the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage.
What is the oldest building in Kells?
Saint John's Cemetery: the first date on its record is 1720.
Are there archaeological sites in Kells?
Yes: the Sites and Monuments Record lists 43 archaeological sites inside Kells.
How old are the homes in Kells?
6.7% of its homes were built before 1919, against 3.4% in the typical town.
Are the buildings on this page protected?
Being on the National Inventory or the Sites and Monuments Record is a record, not protection by itself: buildings are protected by their council’s Record of Protected Structures, which each council keeps and no national open list gathers, so this page can’t say which are on it.
This page describes its history; it gives no grade.
Source: National Inventory of Architectural Heritage and Sites and Monuments Record, Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (CC BY 4.0); Wikidata (CC0).
Sources: National Inventory of Architectural Heritage (buildingsofireland.ie) · Sites and Monuments Record and the National Monuments Service’s monuments to visit · CSO Census 2022 (homes by the year built) · Photos: Wikimedia Commons, including the National Library of Ireland’s collections, each credited with its licence and copied to our own server · Wikidata and English Wikipedia for people born here · Wikidata (CC0) for other names and articles. Under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0).
Contains Central Statistics Office (CSO) data, Census 2022, and Tailte Éireann boundaries (CSO Urban Areas, Small Areas, local electoral areas, constituencies), under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0).