An artistic experience-The Book of Kells

One place we were looking forward to visiting was the Trinity College OLD library and the Book of Kells. Illuminated manuscripts have always fascinated me. Students don't think about the work that goes into them so much, because their life is just bombarded with visual images. When you think about the time when the book was written and all of the things that took place between then and now, it provides a real impression about how God's Word endures.

Trinity College was founded in 1527 and like Cambridge and Oxford, is one of the seven ancient universities of Britain. It is the oldest university in Ireland.

We were not allowed to take photos inside the Old Library but it is one spectacular place! In the Long Room there are over 200,000 volumes of some of the oldest books in Britain and Ireland.  There are many many marble busts and their most famous is the one of Jonathan Swift. 

This harp is a national treasure as well and dates from the 15th century. It is made of oak and willow with 26 brass strings. It is also the model for the emblem of Ireland.

But this is what we want to see! The Book of Kells!
It is the oldest illuminated manuscript of the Four Gospels.
There are four volumes, dating back to 800 A.D.  Two books are on display at one time and each book is open to one page, so you can visit again and again and probably never see all of it. We could not take photos of the book, but check out the links to take a look at some of the images.  
Kells-More info than you really want to knowKells-links to good images

Poster is an enlarged version of a page from Kells.

I don't know if the kids got so much out of this because they had food and shopping on their minds. In hindsight, I wish I had gone in first, rather than letting the kids go first. That way they would not have had to wait for me to exit! I savored every moment of the experience.

Not only are the Books very old (800 AD)...it is incredible that they even survived this long. The pages are velum (which is stretched calf skin) and the illustrations are painted with pure mineral pigments, but factor in natural decay and it is remarkable that these volumes still exist. It also explains the humidity controlled environment and low light.

The whole experience just reminds me once again about how God tells us that His Word will not return void. Whether written or spoken, memorized or read, it endures. Throughout history, people have tried to extinguish it, but at the very least, a remnant remains. If all the books were destroyed but we have committed God's Word to our memories, then it still can not be extinguished, and the more we share it, the more people are blessed.

There is a whole series of DOCUMENTARIES on the Book of Kells
Just click on this YouTube link and you can see them. It is really interesting!