The Book of Kells sits on display at Trinity College in Dublin, attracting over one million visitors per year to witness its beauty. Scholars consider it a medieval masterpiece and one of Ireland’s greatest national treasures. Irish monks created ‘The Book’ at the Columban Monastery in Iona, Scotland, in celebration of the Irish Saint, Columba, known in Ireland as Columbkille. This unfinished illustrated bible was moved to Kells Ireland for completion and to save it from Viking raiders. Vikings sacked the Iona monastery in 806. Two hundred years later, in 1006, this sacred artifact was stolen from the Kells monastery. The thieves removed the cover and several pages and later returned the book by hiding it near the monastery. The cover and the pages have remained unfound, making it a dream of treasure seekers and those who would put their fingerprint on history by reuniting it with Ireland.

The Key to Kells takes us from Philadelphia to Jamaica and Ireland in search of those missing pages, for on them are clues to the location of an even greater treasure. One worth killing for.