There are some spaces that hold so many special stories and resonances and the space of the Abbey Field for the Battle of Kells is one of them.

Often visitors are fascinated to learn that one of Ireland’s most celebrated High Kings, Cormac mac Airt, grandson of Conn of the Hundred Battles, left his residence – one of the biggest mounds on the Hill of Tara – and moved his court to Kells.

Cormac mac Airt, also known as the “Lawgiver”, was accredited with putting together Ireland’s ancient law system, known as the Brehon Law.

As the writer walks the spaces of Kells, she is compelled to think that the Brehon Law may have been finalised in the quiet spaces of what is now the Inner Enclosure of the monastery in Kells.

The land where the Battle of Kells Medieval Fayre will take place is  of what is known as the Curragh Murragh.  It refers to the goddess cult from which the term “Sifoc”(si-froch) or now known as “Suffolk Street” may have originated.

We are told of  how the High King, Cormac mac Airt, moves his royal residence from the Hill of Tara to Kells.

We are also told of how Cormac meets his future wife, Eithne, cutting rushes by the sacred lake on the Curragh Murragh.

The Abbey Field is central to the Curragh Murragh and one can see the remains of the sacred lake from the field.

While drainage has reduced the water level of the former sacred lake, it still has periods of flooding to indicate its former extent when it was the only lake south of the Blackwater.  This made it a useful site for hunter-fishers who needed a base near water, usually on a specially constructed island called a crannog.

Later on in the middle ages, the Abbey of St. Mary was placed adjacent to here.  Two sacred wells are found here – one called St. Colmcille’s Well  and the other called the Putty Well.

The site was looked upon as an entrance to the Otherworld in ancient times.

As we celebrate the medieval history of Kells, we are doing this in an incredibly important and ancient space.

2017 sees the anniversary of the Battle of Emlagh and we will do our best to incorporate this incredibly important story to the history of Ireland and Kells & District.

For more information read “A Walk Around Kells” by William Battersby.