Trinity College Library
The Book of Kells at Trinity College Library simply cannot be missed.
The Book of Kells was written on vellum (calfskin), which was time-consuming to properly prepare but also made an excellent, smooth writing surface. The 680 individual pages (340 folios) have survived and only two lack any form of artistic ornamentation. In addition to the character illuminations, there are entire pages that are primarily decoration, including portrait pages.
As many as ten different colors were used in the illuminations, some of them rare and expensive dyes that had to be imported from the continent. The workmanship is so fine that some of the details can only be clearly seen with a magnifying glass.
After some prefaces and canon tables, the main thrust of the book is the Four Gospels. Each one is preceded by a carpet page featuring the author of the Gospel (Matthew, Mark, Luke or John).
Even the enlargements are a piece of art and you could lose track of time just wandering the first floor.
The College has excellent examples of Oghams, which are medieval (4th to 6th century) stone carvings for communication using the Irish alphabet, which appears to consist almost exclusively of personal names and marks possibly indicating land ownership. Eventually, Oghams made their way to the written format.
In Ireland and in Wales, the language of the monumental stone inscriptions is termed Primitive Irish. The transition to Old Irish, takes place in about the 6th century. This is also a must-see!
As you walk up to the second floor, you will pass a large collage of some of the most exquisite and intricate Irish Linen embroidery.
Arriving on the second floor, you are immediately dwarfed by the library, the bookcase upon bookcase covering the walls with over 56,000 books. Take a moment to observe the crafts-manship of the library, especially the ceilings. (Yes, I do seem to notice the less important or strange things!) This is a very active library in use by today's students. There is a video below.
Here is a little tip... Trinity College may have rooms to rent during the summer with average
price of 65 - 100 Euro. Click below to learn more or copy and paste this link in your browser https://www.tcd.ie/summeraccommodation/city-centre/trinity-campus/
Not the stairs you will take!
I would budget 2.5 to 3 hours of time to view Trinity College Library . . . . maybe longer if the Book of Kells is of particular interest to you. I was there about that long with my foot wrapped and taking a break now and then.
