My Cuppa Irish Tea: A Quick Trip to Navan and Kells

I had bought tickets to take the children to see Santa Clause (which they call here Father Christmas) many weeks ago. I did not realize that you actually pay to see Santa here (in most places). Its a big production, Santa gives you a gift, spends time with you, etc. Even at the department stores you still have to pay a little. I decided to take them out to Causy Farm (which was highly recommended) to see Santa, but decided to leave a little earlier and do a quick trip to the little towns of Navan and Kells.

What famous person is from Navan and lived there until he was a teenager? He considers Navan his hometown and comes back often to visit.

Thats RIGHT…my man Pierce Brosnan! There he is with this mother in Navan.

Navan is just a small town and nothing really important. It has a cute little town center and a nice church.

This is St. Mary's Church in the town. Brosnan went to primary school just behind the church. Just in case you wanted to know. His apt where he grew up was demolished in the 90's for a parking lot. When he was a teenager he moved to London with this mother so that she could get a better job.

St. Mary's Church

Then we drove to Kells, which was about 10 minutes from Navan. We drove on some pretty country roads and we came across this house which is HUGE for Ireland. I had to pull off and take a picture.

This is such a pretty stone house!

Kells, Ireland was known to be a royal residence before St. Colmcille (St. Columba) established a monastic settlement in Kells in 550AD. St. Columba's Church and grounds mark the spot of the monastery. The only remaining original portion is the bell tower.

There are 5 large celtic crosses in the town. 4 of them are in the courtyard in the church, and the other was in the middle of a very busy intersection (which used to be the entrance to the monastery). It was knocked down during a car accident and it now stands in front of the courthouse.

There is a lot of detail on these crosses from the 9th century.

The current St. Columba's Church from the 1700's

This is a picture of a small Oratory that is right next to the graveyard at St. Columba's church. They assume that this must have been St. Columba's (St. Colmcille) house.

St. Columba's House

The main intersection in Kells with a Mary statue in the middle

We stopped for dinner at The Silver Tankard just outside of Navan. The parking lot was fairly full so I assumed that must be a good sign. It was a nice and cozy restaurant with the fires burning in the fireplaces. We had a good meal and then we drove to Causey Farm to see Santa.