Trinity College Library: Cathedral of Books

Although photography is not permitted in the Book of Kells exhibit, it is allowed in the Long Room of the Old Library. The Long Room was built between 1712 and 1732. The upper gallery was added in the 1850s to accommodate the growing collection.

The Long Room is believed to have been the model for the Jedi library in George Lucas’s film Attack of the Clones.

View looking up at the gallery

Staircase to the gallery was not open to the public. Pity–I would have loved to photograph it from above!

Trinity College, Dublin

If you only have seven hours to spend in Dublin, Trinity College is likely to be on the to-do list. The weather in Dublin changes very quickly. The photo above was taken during a rare moment of sunshine. This is the main entrance of the college, facing College Green.

Trinity College was founded in 1592, making it one of the oldest universities in the world. It was originally a Protestant enclave, and as late as 1970, Roman Catholics were forbidden (by the church, not the university) to attend without a letter of permission from their bishop. Catholics started attending the university quite early, although rules barring them from professorships and scholarships were not lifted until 1873.

The Old Library houses the Book of Kells. There was quite a long line waiting to get in. (I didn’t get any photos — too dark.)

The Campanile (bell tower) stands at one end of Parliament Square. Tradition holds that a student who walks underneath the Campanile while the bell tolls will fail his or her exams.

The bronze sculpture below, in front of the Berkeley Library building, is Amaldo Pomodoro’s Sphere within Sphere. Last February it was yarn-bombed.

Public Theatre building, on the right side of Parliament Square. The Old Library is visible on the left side of the photo below: