Trinity College and the Book of Kells

     Trinity College, also known as the University of Dublin, was founded in 1592.  It was set up as a university for land owning English Protestants.  Catholics were permitted to enter as early as 1793, but they couldn't obtain full membership (professorships, fellowships, or scholarships) until 1873.  Finally, women were allowed to enter as full members in January 1904.

The university sits on 47 acres with the city surrounding it.  The architecture is a mix of very old and ultra modern.

     I think the most wonderful thing about this school is its library.  It is the largest research library in Ireland.  It is also a legal deposit library (like our Library of Congress).  That means that the library receives a copy of every book published in Great Britain and Ireland - over 100,000 items each year.  We visited the Long Room of the Old Library.  Our guide told us that the ancient collection in this part of the library is organized not by author or title (in alphabetical order) or by subject matter.  The books are organized by size - big books on spacious shelves and little books on small shelves.  These days, no one knows exactly what is contained in the Long Room, but they are working on it.

The Long Room is aptly named.

Sectioned with No Particular Plan

Shelved by Size

     The most valuable book in the library is the Book of Kells.  This book is an illuminated (decorated and illustrated) manuscript that contains the four Gospels of the New Testament.  It was probably created around 800 A.D.  The name comes from the Abbey of Kells where the book was kept for several centuries.  It came to Trinity in 1661.  We peered through thick glass to view two pages of the book that are on display.  No pictures were allowed, so here's the library's link to view the book online (you can view all 680 pages):

https://tcld.wordpress.com/2013/03/15/book-of-kells-now-free-to-view-online/