The Book of Kells
I have taken this week off work, partly to use up vacation before the 1 April beginning of a new vacation year (I'm using my last week off in March). Partly because the year has been off to a hectic start and I want some down time. But I'm not terribly good at guarding my down time b/c there are so many things I want to do!
The first official day of my vacation, Monday, Patricia and I want to see the Book of Kells exhibit at Trinity College Dublin. It was fascinating. We started with a brisk walk from Connolly train station to Trinity, crossing the Halfpenny Bridge.
Then through the first exhibit hall, which explained a lot about how and when and where the four scribes wrote the book in the early 800s.
The Book of Kells is made up of the four books of the New Testament.
Close up:
The amazing thing, aside from the book itself, is that it survived. St. Colm Cille, born in Donegal, built a monastery on the island of Iona off Scotland in the 500s. His followers wrote the Book of Kells at that monastery. Then the Vikings came in waves, raiding, killing, burning, pillaging. After 68 monks were killed, survivors bundled the book up and took it across the Irish Sea (small boat, rough seas) to County Meath, ending up in Kells, where they built a new monastery (which was actually a collection of huts). There the book remained until the early 1600s, when Cromwell's troops were raiding, killing, burning, pillaging. At which time the book was taken to Dublin and eventually ended up at Trinity.
My mom took up calligraphy after visiting the Book of Kells. I thought she'd appreciate the poem above. Many many people who have received her letters keep them because her writing is too pretty to throw away. Below is the poem written in calligraphy.
Here's the alphabet:
After the first exhibit hall, you get to walk through the Old Library at Trinity. A massive restoration is underway – 200,000 books have been removed and conserved, 15,000 remain.
Detail of one section:
Some of the photos are from Patricia's camera, which takes better indoor photos, and some are from mine. Here's Patricia holding up the world.
Then I took over when she was tired.
This installation is called Gaia. It is spellbinding because it is tethered in only one place, so it moves around and appears to be floating.
The final exhibit hall has a lot of animation and is very cleverly done. It celebrates the variety of books held within the collection.
So that was an excellent start to my holiday. Tuesday I swam first thing then walked Paddy then played golf with Patricia then ran errands (the aforementioned O2 was one) then had a long interview with someone I'm trying to recruit to work at PRI, then a friend called round for a chat. Another busy day when I did not begin painting 26 spindles on my staircase – one of my goals for the week off.
Wednesday I drove to Derry and had a long walk & talk with Julie and Ian. Then I checked in to my dog friendly Air BnB. Then dinner with Peggy and Ann O'Dwyer. Peggy is doing well after the recent loss of her husband, Sean. It is now Thursday morning. I will walk Paddy with Ann then head to Mary in Drumahoe for an early lunch, then home. A snow storm is coming so I'm eager to get through the Glenshane Pass before anything accumulates.
Feb. 4-8