The Books of Kells, Durrow and Armagh...

I went to see the Book of Kells when the Gospel of St Matthew was loaned to the National Library in Canberra. It's not nearly as good as seeing the real thing in the town it's called home for the last 345 of its 1200 years...

Yes, that's right. The Book of Kells is one of at least five surviving books held by Trinity College Library in Dublin that are over a thousand years old. The Book of Durrow is the oldest, having been begun in approximately 700 AD, while the Books of Kells, Armagh, Mulling and Dimma were all begun around or just after 800AD.

The monks of Kells, followers of the saint Colum Cille, had just abandoned their Monastery in Iona (which had been sacked year after year by vikings) for new land at Kells when the book was started. Over a period of several years, 340 vellum (calfskin) folios (double pages), were painstakingly inscribed with the four gospels of the New Testament, and all bar 3 of them illuminated, or illustrated, in some way. Gold leaf adorns many pages, crushed lapis lazuli mixed with mordants creates the most vibrant blue, usually reserved for colouring the robes of the Virgin. From preparing vellum to the many (often really toxic) substances inks were made from to a display of book binding, Trinity's exhibits brings ancient bookmaking to life.

Then there are the books themselves - held behind glass in a dimmed room, their pages turned every 3 months, two of the Kells' gospels (as it's now separated into four separate books) and the books of Durrow and Armagh. In its original form, the book of Kells was bound with leather and adorned with solid gold, and branded "the most precious object in the western world". These hardy publications have seen much - the Book of Kells survived at least 5 major pillages by the vikings in the 10th century, and was the first thing protected when the monastery burned down in 1040, 1060, 1090, 1099, 1111, 1135, 1143, 1144, 1150, 1156.... you get the idea. It was briefly stolen in 1007 , turning up after "two months and 20 nights... its gold having been taken off it and with a sod over it" (ie buried). For all that, it looks still pretty spectacular.

It was eventually sent to Dublin for safekeeping in 1653, during Cromwell's rule after the Civil War (Ireland being firmly annexed by the English by then) and donated to Trinity College in 1661 by the Bishop of Meath.

Also at Trinity, upstairs in the famous 'reading room' (a bigger, more gorgeous, but somehow less scholarly room than the Marsh Library, Ireland's oldest public library, established in 1701 by Narcissus Marsh and located next to St Patrick's cathedral) stands the 'Brian Boru' harp. Apparently, this harp didn't belong to the famed poet and leader, Boru, at all - he was killed in the battle of Clontarf in 1014, and the harp wasn't made until around 1500. Nevertheless, it is a gorgeous instrument, carved with ornate patterns and illustrations. It's the harp you see on the Guinness logo, and also features on Irish Euro coins.

Not a bad way to spend my last day in Ireland. But I guarantee, I'll be back.