Book of Kells Experience at Trinity College

The Book of Kells is the best-known medieval manuscript in Ireland and the main reason most visitors walk through the front gate of Trinity College. The illuminated copy of the four Gospels in Latin dates from around 800 AD and was made in a Columban monastery, most probably begun on Iona and finished at Kells. It stayed at Kells until 1654, when it was sent to Dublin for safekeeping during the Cromwellian period, and it was presented to Trinity in 1661. It has been in the college ever since.

The manuscript is shown in the Old Library, a building designed by Thomas Burgh and built between 1712 and 1732. Only two pages are on view at any one time, and the open pages are changed every few months, so what you see depends on when you visit. Upstairs is the Long Room, 65 metres long, lined with marble busts of writers and scholars. Four busts of women scholars, including Rosalind Franklin and Ada Lovelace, were added in 2020. The library also holds an old Irish harp of oak and willow with 29 brass strings. A large conservation project for the Old Library began in 2022, so parts of the room may look different from older photographs.

The visit continues in a second building, the Red Pavilion, which holds three immersive digital exhibitions and the gift shop. Entry is by timed ticket and booking online is strongly recommended, particularly in summer and on weekends, when walk-up slots sell out. Tickets are non-refundable once bought. A free audio guide is available in many languages, and there are separate ticket types for a self-guided visit, the manuscript and library only, or a guided tour.

Allow about 90 minutes for the whole experience. The Old Library is wheelchair accessible, with staff on hand to help with the lift, and the pavilion is on one level. There are no toilets inside the Old Library itself and there is no bag storage, so travel light.

Trinity's campus sits right in the centre, between College Green and Nassau Street, and the walk through the cobbled squares is free. Grafton Street, St Stephen's Green and the National Gallery are all within ten minutes on foot, which makes this a good first stop on a day in the south city centre.