Discovering the Book of Kells and Library at Trinity College

Trinity College's tradition of independent intellectual inquiry has produced some of the world's finest, most original minds. Known as The Harvard of Ireland, it was founded by Queen Elizabeth I in 1592 and is one of the seven ancient universities of Great Britain and Ireland.

The centerpiece in the Old Library is the Book of Kells, and we were able to see a couple of its original pages. The Book of Kells is an illuminated manuscript depicting the four gospels of the New Testament. Its survival for over 1,200 years is remarkable, but what truly sets it apart is the unparalleled beauty of its artwork. Known as the work of angels

From there we entered the main chamber of the Old Library is the Long Room. As one of the most impressive libraries in the world this is breathtaking, nearly the length of a football field filled with 200,000 of the oldest books in Ireland! Right now, there is a massive restoration project is underway to take care of the books. But it’s still so impressive and you can’t help but notice the huge rotating globe, a contemporary art installation based on NASA images.

Marble busts of the great thinkers of our civilization line the long room and you can literally spend hours looking at the exhibits of famous books and manuscripts.
Here is also where you find the Brian Boru harp…the oldest in Ireland, dating back to 15th century.

Harps were used by bards to preserve the oral history of the Irish people in songs and stories. It is such an important part of this country’s history, in the early 1920s the new Irish government made it the symbol of Ireland. You see it on their coins, and it is used as the image for Guinness!