Dublin has had its own university for over 400 years. Trinity College was founded in 1592, when the Protestant English government sought to exert greater control over the kingdom. The university’s history is correspondingly eventful, and for a long time Catholics were not allowed to attend – the sometimes tense and historically often hostile relationship between Ireland and England is particularly evident in the history of Dublin and, accordingly, of Trinity College.
Students and visitors can get a real sense of Irish history in the library, particularly in the ‘Long Room’. The 1,200-year-old ‘Book of Kells’, an elaborately decorated book containing the four Gospels, is on display in a glass case there. You can also see other books there, such as the 7th-century Book of Durrow, which reveals the artistic traditions and the development of early Christian art in north-west Europe. The oldest surviving Irish harp can also be seen.
Website: https://www.tcd.ie/visitors/
Photo: Library of Trinity College, Dublin. Credits: Unsplash/Gabriel Ramos
