Above, my photos.
For the moment, I will go back to Dublin. My daughter, before we even left the States, suggested the importance for her of visiting Trinity College in Dublin. It houses one of the oldest books [manuscript] in the world...the Book of Kells [manuscript of the four gospels of the Christian New Testament,] ...Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The Book was written around 800 A. D., and scholars estimate that it took seventy-five years to complete. The book was hand-written and painted on pages of vellum, which is calf-skin that has been tanned to paper thinness. The book, as it has survived, has 680 pages. The crowds of visitors when we arrived there were huge. And, they were allowing only a few at a time to enter. The three of us waited a while, and at last, our turn came. BUT!! The number chosen allowed only ONE of us to enter the library [Like the library of Congress in Washington D.C. this building houses all books printed in Ireland's history - a guesstimation of 6 million+] Anyway, Irene was 'the one' to enter since she really wanted to see with her own eyes. My sister and I sat a while in the library's park and eventually walked to the gift shop on the grounds of the College. I had purchased a small book explaining several interesting facts/alumni*/history etc. on the college! This was my spenditure at the gift shop, and Irene purchased three books on the Book of Kells inside the library [one for each of us since we 'allowed' her to be the one to enter].
These photos below are not mine. I found them online since photography was not allowed inside the premises.
Read more:
Book of Kells
In the illustrious art, Matthew is the Man, Mark is the Lion, Luke is the Calf, and John is the Eagle. See images here
In the illustrious art, Matthew is the Man, Mark is the Lion, Luke is the Calf, and John is the Eagle. See images here