Ceanannus Mór

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Ceanannus Mór (sē´ənăn´əs môr) or Kells, town (1991 pop. 2,185), Co. Meath, NE Republic of Ireland, on the Blackwater River. It is a market town and was once a royal residence for Irish kings. Computer cabinets are made there. Noteworthy are the relic of an ancient monastery founded in the 6th cent. by St. Columba, the round tower, and several ancient crosses. The Book of Kells, now one of the treasures of the Trinity College library in Dublin, is a beautifully illuminated manuscript of the Latin Gospels, with notes on local history, found in the ancient monastery and believed to have been written in the 8th cent. The manuscript is generally regarded as the finest example of Celtic illumination.