Trinity's greatest treasures are kept in the Old Library's stunning 65m Long Room, which houses about 200,000 of the library's oldest volumes, including the Book of Kells , a breathtaking, illuminated manuscript of the four Gospels of the New Testament, created around AD 800 by monks on the Scottish island of Iona. Other displays include a rare copy of the Proclamation of the Irish Republic , which was read out by Pádraig Pearse at the beginning of the Easter Rising in 1916.
Also here is the so-called harp of Brian Ború , which was definitely not in use when the army of this early Irish hero defeated the Danes at the Battle of Clontarf in 1014. It does, however, date from around 1400, making it one of the oldest harps in Ireland. Your entry ticket also includes admission to temporary exhibitions on display in the East Pavilion.
The Long Room gets very busy during the summer months, so it's recommended to go online and buy a fast-track ticket (adult/student/family €13/11/26), which gives timed admission to the exhibition and allows visitors to skip the queue. You'll still get only a fleeting moment with the Book of Kells, as the constant flow of viewers is hurried past.
