Kells' name comes from the plural of the Irish word cill, meaning "church" or "monastic cell",[3][4] while Connor's name means "oakwood of the wild dogs", from the Irish con doire.

[5] 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.

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, the foundation stone for the church being laid in 1811 and the building consecrated in 1813.

During the Middle Ages, an Augustinian community was established at Kells nearby.

Connor was the site of a significant battle between the invading army of Edward Bruce and the Earl of Ulster on 9 September 1315.