Book of Kells Experience

Over het museum

The Book of Kells is an illuminated manuscript of the four Gospels in Latin, made around the year 800 with a significant part of the work done at the monastery of St Colum Cille on Iona. After Viking raids on Iona in the ninth century, the monks brought it to their sister house at Kells in Ireland, where it was probably finished and from which it takes its name. Its shrine was stolen in the eleventh century. Bishop Henry Jones presented the book to Trinity College Dublin in 1661, and it has been in the college’s care ever since.

The manuscript has 340 leaves, or 680 pages, and is kept in a climate-controlled case in the Treasury of the Old Library, where two pages are shown at a time. The pages on view are turned several times a year to protect them, so seeing the whole book would take about thirty years. The Old Library houses the famous Long Room, a barrel-vaulted hall that is the college’s eighteenth-century library space. At present most of its books have been removed for the Old Library Redevelopment Project, and only the first four bays of the Long Room still hold their books.

The visit today is run by Trinity College as the Book of Kells Experience. It begins in the Old Library with the manuscript, the Long Room and the Gaia installation and continues in the nearby Red Pavilion, a modern building with three digital exhibitions: Secret Life of the Collections, The Book of Kells 360 and The Long Room Reimagined. The route ends in the gift shop at the end of the pavilion.

Hoogtepunten

• The Book of Kells, shown in the Treasury of the Old Library
• The barrel-vaulted Long Room of the Old Library
• Gaia installation in the Long Room
• Digital exhibitions in the Red Pavilion, including The Book of Kells 360
• Free audio guide in 13 languages

Vaste collectie

• The Book of Kells and the Long Room – The Gospel manuscript made around the year 800, shown with two pages open in the Treasury, followed by the Long Room of the Old Library and the Gaia installation.
• Red Pavilion digital exhibitions – Three immersive digital exhibitions in a pavilion near the Old Library: Secret Life of the Collections, The Book of Kells 360 and The Long Room Reimagined.

Beheerder

Trinity College Dublin

Toegangsprijzen & kortingen

The standard ticket (€19, about 45 minutes) covers the Book of Kells and the Long Room only; the full Experience including the Red Pavilion is €25. Published prices are “from” prices. Tickets are non-refundable. Trinity students and staff, and Trinity alumni, enter free with up to two guests who each need a ticket.

Toegankelijkheid

• Rolstoeltoegankelijk
• Lift
• Aangepast toilet
• Gehandicaptenparkeerplaats
• Hulphonden welkom
• Tastmodellen / voelbare objecten: geen informatie
• Rondleidingen in gebarentaal: geen informatie
• Informatie in eenvoudige taal: geen informatie
• Audiodescriptie: geen informatie

The Old Library is fully wheelchair accessible: ask staff on arrival and a Library Guard will operate the lift; the lift from the Treasury to the Long Room is small (76 cm by 130 cm). The Red Pavilion is step-free on one floor, and wheelchairs can be borrowed. There are no toilets in the Old Library; accessible toilets with a baby changing unit are in the Red Pavilion, and a Changing Places toilet is in the Arts Block (key from the security desk). Assistance dogs are welcome. Blue Badge holders can park in marked bays by entering through Lincoln Gate. A hearing loop is being installed. A low-sensory hour runs once a month outside the peak season, and free sensory backpacks are available at the Old Library welcome desk.

Kinderen & gezin

• Verschoonruimte

The site has no dedicated family section. A baby changing unit is in the accessible toilet in the Red Pavilion, and the Old Library offers free sensory backpacks.

Bereikbaarheid & parkeren

The visit begins on the Trinity College campus off College Green.

Service & horeca

• Museumwinkel

The gift shop is at the end of the Red Pavilion, where the visit finishes. Cafes are elsewhere on the Trinity campus.

Evenementen & zaalverhuur

Het museum heeft hierover geen informatie gepubliceerd.

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