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Maybe looking at an old book might not sound like your idea of a good time. However the Book of Kells is not just your ordinary paperback. Indeed it’s the Mona Lisa of literature… The Beatles of the book world… You get the point.
Considered to be the finest illuminated medieval manuscript in the world, the Book of Kells is widely regarded as Ireland’s greatest national treasure.
The book contains the four Gospels of the New Testament in Latin and it’s believed that it was created by Celtic monks in the early 9th Century. Although, as usual, experts can’t seem to agree as to where exactly it was created, historical records show that it was definitely in the Abbey of Kells in County Meath by the 12th Century.
Trinity College received the Book of Kells in 1653 for safe-keeping from Oliver Cromwell’s army which was stationed at Kells at the time and the book is now on permanent display at the Treasury.
The exhibition gives you a pretty solid background as to how medieval manuscripts were made and goes into some detail about the production of the inks and calf-skin pages, as well as the symbolism of the various animal motifs and extravagantly complex Celtic designs.
Several other medieval texts can also be viewed in the Treasury while the Long Room contains some 200 000 of the Library’s oldest books. A display shows one of the few surviving copies of the 1916 Proclamation of the Irish Republic.
For more information visit www.tcd.ie
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