The Clue to Kells…

An often asked question at Kells is, “What is the origin of the name?" It goes back to the founding of the school. One of our teachers thought that Kells was an appropriate name because of what it represents. Kells is a town in Ireland which was the site of one of the great European monastic centres of learning. Here Western culture was preserved through the dark centuries following the collapse of the Roman Empire in the fifth century.

As Kenneth Clark said in his “Story of Civilization", it was in these Irish and Scottish monasteries that European culture and indeed Western civilization survived by the skin of its teeth, and later spread back through Europe to eventually culminate in the Renaissance. The Book of Kells is the most magnificent of the illuminated manuscripts which have come down to us from these monasteries surviving, among others, two centuries of systematic destruction and pillaging by the Vandals. For this reason we thought that the Book of Kells represents the potential that exists in all of us. It is the achievement and excellence we can all strive for in our own individual journey. Besides all this, and not coincidentally, “Kells Academy" had a nice ring to it. The students liked it immediately. We agreed – Kells it was.

Exploring our extraordinary school, you'll discover a welcoming and encouraging environment, one committed to ensuring that every student enjoys a rich, rewarding learning experience in step with their individual abilities, realities, and needs... in short, attuned to their world.

Irene Woods, Director, Kells Academy