What a wonderful trip 5th and 6th class had to Kells on Thursday the 26th of October!
First stop the old Kells Courthouse, now the Heritage Centre. Here we were given the history of Kells by Libby (a member of the Boyne Valley Tourism staff). In the Heritage Centre we were able to view a facsimile copy of the Book of Kells, a replica of the Kells Crozier and the Kells town model. Not everything was easy! Libby gave a quiz at the end to check that we had all been listening.
Following this, we headed on our walking tour. The Market Cross, which is situated just outside the old Kells Courthouse, had some fascinating and rather gruesome stories attached to it!!
Then off we went to St. John’s Graveyard where some interesting headstones were viewed. The walk through the town of Kells allowed us to compare the pictures of Kells from the past that we had seen earlier, with the Kells we know today. Not too many changes although the castle is no longer in existence.
The old monastic site was brilliant as we examined the Round Tower and the High Crosses – here the biblical stories of Noah’s Ark and the Baptism of Christ were carved in stone, to mention just a few.
We had great fun picking out the spot where the photograph we were sketching in art had been taken from.
A quick stroll up the narrow street by the Handball Alley led us to St. Colmcille’s House. John, our tour guide in St. Colmcille’s House, had us fully engaged as we listened to the stories about Kells all those years ago. While we heard about the relics and the possibility of the Book of Kells having been finished here, it was the idea that as eleven and twelve year olds we could have been taken off as nuns, monks and slaves! That really didn’t appeal to us.
Final stop was the playground for a little break before we walked through the town of Kells again and boarded our bus. What a great day!
Thanks to our tour guides for all their hard work.
