Whether you are passing through Dublin or using it as a jumping off point for the rest of Ireland - If you see nothing else in the city I would recommend you take a short stopover and check out one of my favourite areas in Dublin, and home to some of the most beautiful classic architecture surrounding the infamous - and the unironically awe-inspiring Trinity College.
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| photo by: wenzday01 |
Trinity College is perfectly surrounded by Dublin City - just on the south side of the River Liffey somewhat near the Temple Bar district. The College was originally founded by Elizabeth I in 1592 to help keep her loyal English subjects in Dublin from picking up any 'pesky' Catholic leanings from the Irish colleges, and it has been Ireland's most prestigious university ever since. Current students offer tours of campus every day, and by all accounts, they're well worth the money.
This, however, was not why we where there.
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| photo by:christopheramos |
We came to Trinity College, like many others, for two reasons. Firstly, it is where the four volumes of the Book of Kells are kept and displayed - a manuscript containing the four Gospels of the Bible, believed to be around 1600 years old. Every single page, except two, are decorated - most with many shades of ink and detailing. In 1006 AD it was stolen by the monks who protected it - as theives were raiding the area in search of the book and its famous gold and jeweled cover.
Months later it turned up in a satchel in a bog, with no cover. No one is quite sure what happened, or how it managed to survive. This was pretty awesome - I love old manuscripts, and I haven't seen many older than about 600 years - although the constant presence of tour leaders bringing their groups through the exhibit (in multiple languages) did break the magic a bit.
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| photo by: manuscript_nerd |
Thankfully, though, the ever-passing tour guides did shut up when we got to the other reason we came to Trinity College: the Trinity College Library. Known as the Long room - this 65 metre main library chamber was built in the 1700's and houses 200 000 of the library's oldest books. The room was originally only single story but in the 1800's when the library was given legal deposit status (basically giving them the right to a free copy of any Irish book published - a big deal as they are the only Irish library ever to do so), the roof had to be expanded to deal with the influx of new material (okay new for the 1800's - but still!), giving it its now iconic facade.
I feel like anything else I could say wouldn't be able to capture just how awesome this library is, so I'm going to shut up and let the pictures speak for themselves.
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