Trinity College Dublin

The college was founded in 1592 by Queen Elizabeth Ⅰ and was modelled on the collegiate universities of Oxford and Cambridge. It is one of the seven ancient universities of Britain and Ireland, as well as Ireland’s oldest surviving university. Trinity College is widely considered the most prestigious university in Ireland, in part due to its extensive history.

The university is globally recognised as a leading international centre for research and also as a world leader in Nanotechnology, Information Technology, Immunology, Mathematics, Engineering, Psychology, Politics, English, and Humanities.

Trinity College Library

The Library at Trinity College is a legal deposit library for Ireland and Great Britain, containing around 7 million printed volumes and significant quantities of manuscripts, including the renowned Book of Kells, which arrived at the college in 1661 for safekeeping after the Cromwellian raids on religious institutions.

The Long Room, the Old Library’s main chamber, contains a rare copy of the 1916 Proclamation of the Irish Republic and an iconic 15th-century wooden harp which is the model for the current emblem of Ireland.

The Book of Kells Exhibition

The Book of Kells Exhibition is a must-see on the itinerary of all visitors to Dublin. The Exhibition displays the Book of Kells, a 9th century manuscript that documents the four Gospels of the life of Jesus Christ. It is Ireland’s greatest cultural treasure and the world’s most famous medieval manuscript.

The library receives over a million visitors each year, making it the most important library in Ireland.

The Exhibition is open 7 days a week. Tickets can be purchased online or at the ticket desk within the Exhibition.

Guided Tours

Trinity College Dublin is located in College Green, right in the heart of the city.

Tours of the college campus are conducted by Trinity’s official tour provider, Authenticity Tours. They can facilitate any tour requests from members of the public or tour groups.

Authenticity Tours offers a combined ticket which incorporates a guided tour of Trinity College Dublin and the admission fee to the Book of Kells and Old Library Exhibition.

Lasting 35 minutes, the tour encompasses the four major squares of the College. It provides visitors with an insight into the more than four-hundred-year history of the College, its buildings and their use, its traditions, and its life today. All of the guides are knowledgeable and enthusiastic students of Trinity College Dublin.

To take a guided tour, visitors need simply turn up at the Authenticity Tours ticket desk at the Front Gate and purchase a ticket for the next scheduled tour.

Official site: Trinity College Dublin