Half an hour later, we found ourselves outside the Old Library where a long queue had already formed. Inside, as my eyes grew accustomed to the dimly-lit exhibition, I learnt what the Book Of Kells was all about – a manuscript of the four Gospels written on calf skin by Irish monks in the 9th century, with intricate designs and beautifully illustrated in Latin text.
I slowly made my way into the darkened Treasury room to see the famous book, which by 1953, had already been bound into four volumes. Only two volumes are set in a glass display at any one time. I leaned over one showing a decorated page, and the other showing two pages of script. It was difficult to discern the animal figures and symbols in the manuscript but I could clearly make out the painstakingly drawn initial letters. In comparison, I had seen another book with much more lavishly illustrated script but from a different time period and continent.
Upstairs, and in better light, was the impressive barrel-vaulted Long Room. At almost 65m in length, this room contained 200,000 of the library’s oldest books, of which some were on display.
Dubliners share a love of reading and writing. The city boasts four Nobel Prize for Literature winners – William Butler Yeats, Seamus Heaney, George Bernard Shaw and Samuel Beckett – and has a thriving contemporary literary scene. It’s also the fourth city in the world to be designated a City of Literature, a title awarded by Unesco in July 2010. It’s an exclusive club to belong to, as there are only six other such cities in the world.
So is Dublin worthy of a stopover if stout beer and whiskey are not to your fancy?
Absolutely! I wouldn’t mind breaking my journey in Dublin for a few nights before exploring the rest of Ireland.
https://www.thestar.com.my/travel/europe/2013/11/16/dublins-past-remembered