Kells () is a

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

near

Ballymena Ballymena ( ; from ga, an Baile Meánach , meaning 'the middle townland') is a town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is part of the Borough of Mid and East Antrim. The town is built on land given to the Adair family by King Charles I i ...

County Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, ) is one of six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and has a population o ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

, that also encompasses the neighbouring village of Connor () ( Ulster-Scots: ''Connyer''). As such it is also known as Kells and Connor in which they share a primary school, library, development association etc. It is in

Mid and East Antrim District Council Mid and East Antrim Borough Council is a local authority that was established on 1 April 2015. It replaced Ballymena Borough Council, Carrickfergus Borough Council and Larne Borough Council. History On 2 December 2021, the councils chief execu ...

. Kells and Connor had a population of 2,053 people (808 households) in the 2011 Census. An old stone bridge crosses the

Kells Water The Kells Water is a small river in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It flows through Moorfields and Kells and is a tributary to the River Main. The river rises above Glenwherry. It is a continuation of the Glenwhirry River and eventually joins ...

, separating Kells from Connor. There is a gate community around kells due to past history. A Christian settlement in Connor was established in 480 AD and a Monastery in Kells in 500 AD.

History

There is much evidence, from written sources and archaeological material, that Connor was a sizeable, complex settlement in the Early Christian period, probably with monastic and secular elements coexisting. The church of the early monastic establishment at Connor was re-built as the cathedral of the medieval

Diocese of Connor and Kells :''See Conor for namesakes'' The Roman Catholic Diocese of Connor was a Catholic diocese in Ireland which started as a territorial abbey circa 500, became a proper residential bishopric in 1111 and was merged into the Roman Catholic Diocese of Dow ...

. It was destroyed in the Confederate wars of the mid seventeenth century and replaced by the present Church of St Saviour early in the nineteenth century, its foundation stone for the church being laid in 1811 and the building consecrated in 1813. During the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

, an

Augustinian Augustinian may refer to: *Augustinians, members of religious orders following the Rule of St Augustine *Augustinianism, the teachings of Augustine of Hippo and his intellectual heirs *Someone who follows Augustine of Hippo * Canons Regular of Sain ...

community was established at Kells nearby. This Augustinian Abbey survived into the early seventeenth century, but was burnt in 1641. Only one wall and some short runs of wall remain of the Abbey and these are now preserved in the grounds of Dinsmore's textile factory. Connor was the site of a significant battle between the invading army of

Edward Bruce Edward Bruce, Earl of Carrick ( Norman French: ; mga, Edubard a Briuis; Modern Scottish Gaelic: gd, Eideard or ; – 14 October 1318), was a younger brother of Robert the Bruce, King of Scots. He supported his brother in the 1306–1314 st ...

and

Richard Óg de Burgh, 2nd Earl of Ulster Richard Óg de Burgh, 2nd Earl of Ulster and 3rd Baron of Connaught (; ; 1259 – 29 July 1326), called The Red Earl ( Latinized to de Burgo), was one of the most powerful Irish nobles of the late 13th and early 14th centuries and father of ...

, on 9 September 1315. Following the defeat of the Anglo-Normans by the Scots army Connor was sacked. Kells and Connor was the location where the 1859 Ulster revival started.

Transport

* Kells was formerly served by the Ballymena and Larne Railway, a

narrow gauge railway A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structur ...

. Kells railway station opened on 24 August 1878, closed for passenger traffic on 31 January 1933 and finally closed altogether on 3 June 1940.

References

Culture Northern ireland
{{authority control Villages in County Antrim

History

Transport

See also

References