Trinity College

Just one of Trinity College’s famous alumni, Oliver Goldsmith stands proudly outside the college’s main entrance. He holds aloft a book, indicating to the world how he spent his time there. He wrote a number of poems during his lifetime, the most famous of which is The Deserted Village, at one time on the Irish secondary school curriculum. Goldsmith, however, idled his time away while in Trinity and the record proves that he didn’t graduate. In fact, he was well known as someone who ‘never opened a book at all.’

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If you could take just one photo: Trinity College

Dating back to the beginning of the 9th century, the Book of Kells is among the most exquisite of medieval manuscripts. On its 340 folios, Celtic monks demonstrated their mastery of calligraphy and illustration, taking ornamentation beyond ornate to the most elaborate extremes of detail. The text's seemingly submissive role is evidenced by occasional mistakes and missing parts . . . indicate that the readers probably already knew all the words by heart. But the exceptional art has long inspired believers and nonbelievers alike--and continues to do so today--from animators to tattoo artists.

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There are over 200,000 books in Trinity Library. All first editions, they span five centuries and a multitude of languages - from Greek and Latin through Old Irish and Aramaic. The smell of ancient cracked vellum pervades the air as you enter, breathing a distant past beneath the barrel-vaulted ceiling. Four-and-a-half miles of shelving in this Long Room must surely require a complex method of codifying the tomes, no? Alphabetical? Thematical? Actually, the books are arranged by size: big ones at the bottom, small ones at the top. In order for a student to locate a title, they must first know the dimensions! Oh, and there is something familiar on the left-hand side. A twenty-nine string Irish willow harp is displayed in a glass case. Only three feet high, it is the oldest surviving Irish harp, but why is it so recognisable? If you've ever held a pint of Guinness, you'll know..

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Just yards from the snarling traffic on College Street, ensconced safely under a glass shield, is an ancient tome. Leaving leprechaun-embossed tea towels and Guinness-etched souvenirs behind, a treat awaits. Deep inside Trinity Library, a cool, lugubrious gloom houses the 1200-year-old Book of Kells. Two of the four-volume book of gospels are open on display: a hushed reverence descends as the glass cabinet is approached. Fabulous Latin calligraphy, coupled with vivid, medieval Celtic colours depicting symbols of the evangelists, gives the impression that the print is recent. Spend a few minutes scrutinising the extraordinary attention to detail, then bear in mind that this book - thought originally to have come from Scotland for safety - was found dumped unceremoniously in a field near Kells, west of Dublin. Pretty remarkable, then, that the Book of Kells has survived at all.

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Dating back to the beginning of the 9th century, the Book of Kells is among the most exquisite of medieval manuscripts. On its 340 folios, Celtic monks demonstrated their mastery of calligraphy and illustration, taking ornamentation beyond ornate to the most elaborate extremes of detail. The text's seemingly submissive role is evidenced by occasional mistakes and missing parts... perhaps indicating that the readers already knew all the words by heart. As the printing press took off, illuminated manuscripts disappeared and painting found its way to a better medium than book pages. Still, this medieval art form continues to inspire believers and nonbelievers alike. Even today, at a time when the book as a physical object is slipping away, designs from the Book of Kells pop up on everything from corporate logos to anime to tattoo art.

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