THE BOOK OF KELLS IN TRINITY COLLEGE DUBLIN: A VISIT TO ONE OF MANKIND'S GREATEST BOOK TREASURES

The Book of Kells is undoubtedly one of the greatest (book) treasures of mankind: written around the year 800 by Iro-Scottish monks, the manuscript, which was declared a UNESCO World Documentary Heritage in 2011, is probably the world's most well-known example of insular book illumination. This masterpiece attracts more than 2 million visitors to the Irish capital Dublin every year. A visit that is definitely worthwhile, as you can read here in our short travelogue.

Trinity College was founded in 1592 under the patronage of Queen Elizabeth I and was initially called the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity. The campus was located outside the city walls, on the site of the former Priory of All Hallows, and was only open to Protestant students and teachers, as the college was primarily intended to consolidate Tudor rule in Ireland. These strict confessional restrictions were only relaxed after around 200 years. And it was not until 1904 that Trinity Collegeofficially opened its doors to women. Today, it is one of the world's most renowned universities and has almost 20,000 students from all over the globe.

Several rooms of the Old Library are dedicated to the Book of Kells. The manuscript itself is presented in its own "treasury" in dimmed light (photography is unfortunately not permitted). In order to preserve the valuable manuscript in the best possible way, there is always just one open double page in one of its four volumes on display. During our visit, we can marvel at two pages of St. Mark's Gospel that are adorned with stunning zoomorphic initials decorated in gold. It is these very initials that have established the reputation of the Book of Kells.

The early medieval masterpiece, which was probably created on the Scottish island of Iona in the 8th century, got its name from its long stay in the Irish abbey of Kells. It was there that the monks of Iona saved themselves and their book treasure from increasing Viking raids. Although its original splendid gold binding was stolen over the course of time, it is now considered to be the most significant work of early insular book art alongside the Book of Lindisfarne and was listed on the UNESCO Memory of the World Register in 2011 for good reason. The Scottish (and Irish) monks used the most precious materials to create captivating miniatures, breathtaking interlace initials and elaborate calligraphy that is second to none.

The accompanying exhibition The Book of Kells 360, which visualizes its fascinating illumination in threedimensional larger-than-life animations, is a particularly exciting way to experience this gem of early medieval book illumination.

After visiting Trinity College, the tour continues to the nearby Chester Beatty Library. It was originally founded as the private library of the American entrepreneur Sir Alfred Chester Beatty (1875–1968) and has been housed in the so-called Clock Tower Building from 1820, which is part of the Dublin Castle complex, since 1995. The library, which is actually a museum, hosts some of the most important collections of ancient, Persian, Islamic, East and Southeast Asian as well as Western European manuscripts and early prints. Particularly famous pieces include the Beatty Rosarium, the Quran of Ibn al-Bawwab and the ancient papyrus fragments with biblical texts P45 and P46.