Descriptive Gazetteer Entry for KELLS

KELLS, a parish, in the barony of LOWER ANTRIM, county of ANTRIM, and province of ULSTER, 5 ½ miles (N.) from Antrim, on the road from Ballymena to Randalstown: the population is included in the return for the parish of Connor, into which this place (which in the civil divisions is not recognized as a parish) is generally considered to have merged. In the early part of the ninth century, a cell existed here, on the site of which a priory was erected some time before the arrival of the English, by O'Brien Carrog, who dedicated it to the Blessed Virgin; and it existed till 1442, when it was surrendered, with all its possessions. The village has a neat appearance; it is a constabulary police station, and has a penny post to Antrim. Fairs are held on Jan. 10th, March 1st, June 10th, and Sept. 12th. The parish is in the diocese of Connor, and is wholly impropriate in the Earl of Mountcashel, who allows the incumbent of the adjoining parish of Connor £3 per annum for discharging the clerical duties.


(Samuel Lewis, A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland (1837); Transcription © Derek Rowlinson, 2005-10. Reproduced from LibraryIreland. We are deeply grateful to LibraryIreland for allowing us to use their transcription.)

Linked entities:
Feature Description: "a parish"   (ADL Feature Type: "countries, 4th order divisions")
Administrative units: Antrim Lower IrlBarony       Antrim IrlC
Place: Kells

Go to the linked place page for a location map, and for access to other historical writing about the place. Pages for linked administrative units may contain historical statistics and information on boundaries.