Trinity College, Dublin

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Created in 1311, this ever since has been Dublin's largest college. For the tourist its famous as the home of the medieval manuscript, "the book of Kells". it one of the best preserved medieval manuscripts.

The Book of Kells is one of the absolute highlights of a visit to Trinity College Dublin. It is a 680-page illuminated version of the Christian Gospels dating from the 9th century, and is considered one of the great masterpieces of early Christian art. There is an exhibition about the history and illuminations of the book, and besides the Book of Kells, also the Book of Armagh (a 9th-century copy of the New Testament) and the Book of Durrow (a 7th-century Gospel book) are on display here at the Old Library.

The Long Room at the Old Library is also worth a visit. It is long - nearly 65 meters - and looks like a room taken out of a Harry Potter movie… It is the largest single-chamber library in the world containing 200,000 of the library’s oldest books. Quite stunning!

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Trinity College Dublin (TCD) was founded in 1592, making it Ireland's oldest university - and it is a place full of history... Take a stroll around the Parliament Square, the New Square, and the Rugby Ground - or if you want you can join a guided tour... I did and a couple of students showed us around and told us the history of the university. Very good!

The Old Library and the Book of Kells (read my other tips) is the highlight IMO, but there are many other interesting buildings and monuments: The West Front (1759), the Campanile (1853), the Reading Room (1937), the Printing Room (1734), the Dining Hall (1760), the Museum Building (1857), and the Chapel (1798)...

I can’t tell you about the studying quality in Trinity College, but the quiet ambience calls to reflection and concentration.

The campus is well conceived and harmoniously balanced, and the library invites us in.

Rather british, indeed!

This area of Dublin is a very busy and hectic place to be in. Considering the bad pavements which are small/tiny and crowds around maybe not the friendliest place Dublin. Founded in 1592 by letters patent from Queen Elizabeth I as the "mother of a university", it was modelled after the collegiate universities of Oxford and of Cambridge, but unlike these only one college was established; as such, the designations "Trinity College, Dublin" and "University of Dublin" are usually synonymous for practical purposes. It is one of the seven ancient universities of Britain and Ireland, and is Ireland's oldest university.

The Book of Kells is regarded as an Irish national treasure and it can be seen, at least a few pages, at the Old Library of Trinity College. The book was produced around 800 AD by monks, probably at a monastery on the island Iona.

The book of Kells is well preserved and contains the four gospels of the New Testament. It is written in black, purple and yellow ink and it has magnificent illustrations of plants, people, mythical beasts, knots and geometrical patterns.

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Ten euros gets you into the old library, a view of parts of the Book of Kells, and a guided tour by one of the students. You can skip the guide for one euro less.
The whole thing takes less than an hour, and was very interesting.
The library smells just like you think it would...old books...and dust. They have some small exhibits of things to see while there, no photography allowed as they want to keep the profits moving in the souvenir stand at the end.
Don't expect to see the entire book of Kells, they show only half, and not all of that can be seen. Still it is interesting to see such an old book so beautifully written. The colors are amazing.
Also to be viewed is the Sphere Within A Sphere, see photo below, and I also have put up a video of it moving. view it at: http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/vv/49ab/
sorry about the noise in the background.....

I thought the Book of Kells was fascinating! However, the price for the tour was a little steep and it was a bit crowded, but you could stay and view it as long as you want. But it was under glass, so you could only see two pages. There was a lot of interesting information in the display before you actually saw the book. I recommend it if you're interested in history!

At Trinity College there is a museum holding the Book of Kells - an ancient version of the Bible. A must-see for anyone visiting Dublin. Plan to spend at least 2 hours there if you want to see most of the panels.

Trinity College builds on its four-hundred-year-old tradition of scholarship to confirm its position as one of the great universities of the world, providing a liberal environment where independence of thought is highly valued and where staff and students are nurtured as individuals and are encouraged to achieve their full potential. It was founded in 1592 and is the oldest university in Ireland.

The College is committed to excellence in both research and teaching, to the enhancement of the learning experience of each of its students and to an inclusive College community with equality of access for all. The College will continue to disseminate its knowledge and expertise to the benefit of the City of Dublin, the country and the international community.