Illuminated Places
The town of Kells is connected to the island of Iona by Saint Columba and an illuminated manuscript: The Book of Kells.

This photography project makes a visual connection between the two places. It is a series of 18 pictures, made during March and April 2008, recording a walk around the outer monastic boundaries of Kells and Iona.

In Kells the boundary was probably palings and a ditch. Iona's was, arguably, the natural edge between sea and land. Both contained a spiritual domain. The outer monastic boundary of Kells was largely incorporated into the town's Norman walls and now is generally marked by the streets of central Kells. Iona's outer boundary is probably little changed. There are a few more houses along the Island's eastern shore. The north, west and south shores are as windswept and uninhabited as ever they were.

There remain many unknowns about the The Book of Kells. When and where are the popular arguments. The most likely, place of writing was Iona. The most likely time of writing was the mid eighth century. This gospel-book probably came to Kells in the ninth century, and ironically it is Kells that gives the book its name, and it's this gospel-book that makes Kells so widely known.

Commissioned by Kells Town Council under the Per Cent for Arts Scheme.