Along with other towns in County Meath, it is within the commuter belt for Dublin,[3][4][5] and had a population of 6,608 as of the 2022 census.

[7] From the 12th century onward, the settlement was referred to in English and Anglo-Norman as Kenenus, Kenelles, Kenles, Kenlis, Kellis and finally Kells.

[6] It has also been suggested that Kenlis and Kells come from an alternative Irish name, Ceann Lios (meaning 'Head Fort').

[citation needed] About 560 AD, Colmcille (later known as Columba) – a prince of the royal house of the Northern Uí Néill family – acquired Kells in recompense of a fault acted against him by his cousin the High King Diarmuid MacCarroll, who granted him the Dun (fortification) of Ceannanus to establish a Monastery.

Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, Hugh de Lacy was granted the Lordship of Meath in 1182.

Kells became a border town garrison of the Pale and was the scene of many battles between the Kingdom of Breifne and the Hiberno-Normans (who had heavily intermarried).

[citation needed] The period of the Great Famine saw the population of Kells drop by 38% as measured by the census records of 1841 and 1851.

The other Celtic cross was positioned in the middle of a busy crossroads until an accident involving a school bus.

[citation needed] Close by the graveyard of St. Columba's church stands a small stone roofed oratory, known as St. Colmcille's House.

Mass is celebrated there annually, and the cemetery is a reminder of the workhouse and extreme poverty engendered by changes in farming practice in the 19th century and during the Great Famine.

Kells was a renowned traffic bottleneck from both the N3 national primary route (Dublin, Cavan, Enniskillen and Ballyshannon) and N52 national secondary route (Dundalk, Tullamore and Nenagh) passing through the town centre.

The new M3 motorway (opened June 2010) significantly reduces the journey time to Dublin[citation needed], as well as the numbers of vehicles in the town.

In October 2022 Bus Éireann's Dundalk to Ardee route 167 was extended to Mullingar via Kells.

[citation needed] Irish indie rock bands Ham Sandwich and Turn are also associated with Kells.