The Secret of Kells

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• Although the characters, fantasy elements, and plot specifics of this movie are fictional, there is a real "Book of Kells", an illuminated, heavily illustrated rendering of the Four Gospels of the Christian bible, that dates from the Early Medieval period (probably the early Eighth Century) in Ireland. The best historical and archaeological evidence suggests that, starting shortly after it was finished, the book was moved several times (including, as depicted in the movie, during an Viking invasion) and lost for various periods. It has been housed at the library of Trinity College, Dublin, since the Seventeenth Century, and is considered perhaps the single most valuable cultural artifact of Irish History that has ever been discovered. Some of the design concepts for the movie echo aspects of the original Book of Kells; for instance, the shapes of the repeated tree patterns as Brendan enters the forest are quite similar to the arrangement and shapes of the columns and arches in the "Eusebian Canons, Folio 5R" page of the real book.
• Pangur Ban is named for a cat who appears in an 8th Century Irish poem written by a monk to his pet cat. This poem can be heard spoken, in Gaelic, over the closing credits.