(Return to "Going to Ireland" albumn)

(Return to "Day Five - Sunday 16th May" albumn)

 

Dublin

Trinity College Library

The Book of Kells was written around the year 800 AD
and is one of the most beautifully illuminated manuscripts in the world.

It contains the four gospels, preceded by prefaces, summaries,
and canon tables or concordances of gospel passages.

It is written on vellum and contains a Latin text of the Gospels
in "insular majuscule script" accompanied by magnificent and intricate
whole pages of decoration with smaller painted decorations
appearing throughout the text.

The manuscript was given to Trinity College in the 17th century
and since 1953 has been bound in four volumes.

It has been on display in the Old Library since the 19th century.

Two volumes can normally be seen
- one opened to display a major decorated page and
- one to show two pages of script.