Archdeacon of Kells
Medieval ecclesiastical post
The Archdeacon of Kells (Middle English: Kenlys, Kenlis Irish: Ceanannas), alias the Archdeacon of Nobber (Middle English: Nobire, Nobbir, Nobyre, Irish: an Obair, meaning 'the work'), was a medieval ecclesiastical post in the Diocese of Meath in the Kingdom of Meath, Ireland. The archdeaconry was officially established sometime between the 11th and 13th centuries, and was annexed to the Rectory of Nobber. In the 16th century, the office was briefly united to the Bishopric of Meath, but afterwards separated again. As a consequence of the Reformation, the Archbishop of Armagh (Church of Ireland) held the "Archdeacony of Kells, in commendam 1569 to 1584". Sometime before 1622, the Archdeacon of Kells and Rectory of Nobber were permanently united to the bishopric of Meath.
Background
Before the dissolution of the monasteries and Henrican reforms of the 16th century took full effect in Ireland, there were Archdeacons of Kells, County Meath. The Diocese of Kells was established sometime after the Synod of Kells (1152), and incorporated with the Diocese of Meath after 1211. The deanery of Kells was created by Simon (de) Rochford, Bishop of Meath, in 1216. At the time, it was one of twelve rural deaneries in Meath, later becoming one of the two archdeaconries of the same diocese.
Nobber was once an important town in the Kingdom of Meath, and the Rectory of Nobber was united to this dignity; thus the holder was sometimes called Rector of Nobber, Parson of Nobber, or most commonly styled Archdeacon of Nobber.
The public source identifies “Archdeacon of Kells” as medieval ecclesiastical post. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Archdeacon, Kells and Medieval.
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This entry incorporates text from “Archdeacon of Kells” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.