The Abbey of Kells (Mainistir Cheanannais in Irish) is a former monastery in Kells, County Meath, Ireland, 40 miles (64 km) north of Dublin. It was founded in the early 9th century, and the Book of Kells was kept there during the later medieval and early modern periods before finally leaving the abbey in the 1650s. Much of the Book of Kells may have been created there, but historians cannot be certain of the exact date and circumstances of its creation.