Last updated on November 10, 2024
Sooner or later, anyone who thinks about visiting Dublin will probably see a picture of an old library with a high wood-panelled vaulted ceiling and metre-high bookshelves – like the cover picture for this article…
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Intro
My cover picture shows the Long Room in Trinity College in Dublin. We’ll get to why Trinity College is one of the most important sights in Dublin in a moment.
When I was (once again) in Dublin, I felt like having a look at Trinity College. Of course I had come across the Long Room while researching and I was also interested in the Book of Kells.
The weather was rather uninviting, light drizzle, grey skies – not nice light for taking photos and my camera kept getting wet. Well, what the heck…
A large collection of black and colourful umbrellas led me to the entrance – “this is supposed to be the entrance?” The small door in the large wooden gate initially turned out to be the eye of a needle.
A few minutes and euros later, I was able to enter the campus: “Very cool!” The campus consists of several squares and green areas. Mostly old, beautiful buildings line the open spaces and various sculptures and smaller buildings break up the picture.
The walk across the campus alone is really beautiful and interesting. The old library is right in the centre. Its centrepiece is the famous Long Room with its metre-high bookshelves and vaulted, wood-panelled ceiling.
I had to queue a bit to get my ticket, but the visit was definitely worth it – very interesting and beautiful to see. The Book of Kells exhibition is housed in several rooms in front of the Long Room.
The book itself is protected behind glass, but there are lots of enlarged photos of important pages from the book. It’s hard to imagine how the monks painted elaborate decorations on the pages of the book by candlelight – how much labour and dedication went into such a masterpiece! In our fast-moving times, where content is produced every minute, this is hardly conceivable.
The venerable Long Room was also very impressive. I like books and wood and high ceilings – and the Long Room is just that. It really was my library and I will definitely be back.
Coming back is easy for me as we live in the southeast of Ireland (second home).
Some background about the Trinity College
It was in 1592 that Trinity College was founded in Dublin. And it was Queen Elizabeth I of England who inaugurated it. It was modelled on Cambridge and Oxford in England. This makes Trinity College the oldest university in Ireland and one of the oldest universities in the world.
Samuel Beckett, Oscar Wilde, Bram Stoker (yes, that’s right, the author of “Dracula”) and Jonathan Swift are just some of the famous names to have emerged from this elite institution. Even today, Trinity is still recognised as one of the most important research universities in the world and an outstanding teaching institution.
There are many different faculties on the campus, combining technology, science and art. There are sports facilities and several libraries, of which the Old Library is the oldest.
The Long Room at Trinity College Library
The Old Library was built in 1732 and lies at the heart of the campus. Over 200,000 old texts and books are kept here and the oldest harp in Ireland is also honoured here! The collection totals over 6 million books, as the library is entitled to a copy of every (!) book published in Ireland or Great Britain. So it is constantly growing. The wood-panelled Long Room is around 65 metres long and is used to store the valuable old books.
The Book of Kells
This book is part of the world’s documentary heritage and is an outstanding example of book art on the island in the 8th or 9th century. The exact date of the book’s creation is not known, but it was definitely in the early Middle Ages (when the Vikings invaded and later colonised the island).
It originates from Kells Abbey and was only acquired by Trinity College in the 17th century. It contains the four gospels and was decorated and illustrated in an extremely artistic manner. The colours are vibrant and the weave-like ornaments and patterns, as well as the animal symbols, are painted in the Celtic tradition.
Even if you are not that interested in religious art, the Book of Kells is simply a Celtic-Christian work of art and very beautiful to see, in my opinion.
Visiting Trinity College in Dublin
As I said, Trinity College is open to everyone and entry doesn’t cost a fortune. You can just visit the campus, book the Long Room and the Book of Kells, or take a guided or self-guided tour (via app).
If you take a walk around the campus, take a look at the Campanile, the bell tower in the centre of the grounds. It was built in 1853 and is about 30 metres high.
A building with columns at the entrance (Greco-Roman style?) will also catch your eye. This is the chapel, which was built in 1798. It was the first university chapel in Ireland and is still used today by all denominations. When I was there, a wedding ceremony was taking place in the middle of the venerable university.
Here you can find visitor information about Trinity College: https://www.visittrinity.ie/.
More interesting sights to see in Dublin
The old centre of Dublin lies roughly between Trinity College to the east and Christ Church Cathedral to the west and is bordered to the north by the River Liffey. The famous Temple Bar district lies in its centre.
In addition to Trinity College and Christ Church Cathedral, other well-known sights in the centre include Dublin Castle, Dublinia, Ha’Penny Bridge and, of course, Temple Bar.
A little further on you will also find St Patrick’s Cathedral, the Leprechaun Museum, the Dublin GAOL, the Guinness Storehouse, the EPIC Irish Immigration Museum and many other exhibitions, museums, galleries and sights.
Here I link you to my article on places of interest in Dublin: https://ireland-insider.com/the-most-important-sights-in-the-city-of-dublin/
I will link you to further articles on Dublin further down in the text.
Conclusion
If you come to Dublin, Trinity College with the Long Room and the Book of Kells is certainly one of the most important sights you will find in travel guides or other literature about Dublin.
But I think Trinity College deserves the marketing. The visit is really beautiful and fun. At the end of my visit, I marched back out onto the streets of Dublin through the small entrance door in the large wooden gate and was in a great mood – despite the persistent drizzle!
I wish you lots of fun in Dublin and at Trinity College!
Here are a few more articles about Dublin that I’m sure you’ll find interesting:
More interesting articles for you
CITY WALKS AND CITY TOURS IN DUBLIN – FROM CLASSIC TO SPECIAL FORMATS
THE MUSEUMS OF DUBLIN
DUBLIN FOR ART LOVERS
POETS AND WRITERS IN DUBLIN – THE LITERARY HERITAGE OF IRELAND
Picture credits cover picture: Long Room inside Trinity College Library, photo: Ulrich Knüppel-Gertberg (www.irland-insider.de, www.ireland-insider.com)
