Page 20 - DK Eyewitness Travel Guides - The World's Must-See Places

Trinity College, Dublin
18 EUROPE

Queen Elizabeth I founded Trinity College/ Dublin/s oldest
and most famous educational institution/ in 1592. Originally
a Protestant college/ it only began to take Catholics in large
numbers after 1970/ when the Catholic Church relaxed its
TRINITY COllEGE, opposition to them attending. Among Trinitis many famous
DUBLIN
students were the playwrights Oliver Goldsmith and Samuel
ATlANTIC
OCEAN IRELAND
Beckett/ and the political writer Edmund Burke. The college/s
lawns and cobbled quads provide a pleasant haven in the
heart of the city. The major attractions are the Old Library
Trinity College
and the Book of Kells/ housed in its treasury. coat of arms

THE BOOK OF KELLS
The most richly decora ted of Ireland's medieval THE DOUGLAS HYDE GALLERY
illuminated manuscripts, the B ook of Kells may l;tJ Campanile
Situated in the Trinity College The 100-ft (30-m) bell
have been the work of monks from the is land
grounds, this is one of Ireland's tower was built in 1853 Reclining
of lona in Scotland, who fled to K ells in County by S ir Charles Lanyon,
leading contemporary arts Connected Forms
Meath in 806 after a Viking raid. T he book, venues. Exhibits feature film, architect of Queen's (1969) by Henry
which was moved to Trinity College (Old painting, insta II ati on, and Univers ity in Belfast Moore ~ Library
Square
library Treasury) in the 17th century, contains sculpture work by emerging as
the four G ospels in L atin The scribes who well as recognized artists.
copied the texts em bel h s hed their calligraphy
with intricate. interlacing spirals, as well a s
human figures and anmals Some of the dyes ~ Chapel
used in the manuscnpt were 1mported from This w as the first
as far away as the M1ddle East. The monogram university chapel in
the Republic to accept
page is the most elaborate page 1n the book,
all denomnations. The
and conta1ns the first three words of painted windcm abwe
St. Matthew's account of the b1rth of Christ the altar is from 1867.

FAMOUS ALUMNI
Since its foundation, Tnnty has OJitivated many
distinguished vvnters and h1storical figures. Their
time here had a discernable impact on their Statue of Edmund
Burke (1&6&) ,
lives. Among the most outstanding graduates by John Foley
are the writers and dramatists J ona than S wift,
Oliver Golds mith, Oscar Wilde, B ram S toker,
William Congre ve, and Samuel Becke tt; the Parliament Square
philosopher George B erkele y; the statesman
and political philosopher Edmund B urke; Nobel
prizewinning phys icist Ernest Wa lton; Ireland's
first president, Douglas Hyde; a nd Ireland's first
female president. Mary Robinson. S tatues of its
famous s cholars s tand throughout the college.

PARLIAMENT SQUARE
T rinity College stands on what was once part Main '-'~
of the grounds of All Hallows monastery.
entrance ---------- / .
The wood-tiled archway at the man entrance
leads to Trinrty's ma1n q..adrangle (Parliament Statue of
Square) fine green lawns and an array of Oliver Goldsmith
(1 &64) by J ohn
splemid 18th- and 19th-<:entury build1ngs
Foley
characterize the cobbled square An 1mposwg t;iJ Examination Hall
centerpiece (Campanile) marks the onginal site
of the monastery The chapel was designed by
S ir William Chambers 1 n 1798 Beside 1t is the
~ 01 d Library Treasury
Dining Hall, built by R ichard Castle in 1742, This detail is from the 7th-century
where Trinity's students eat. This building has B ook of Durrow, one of the
been considerably a ltered ove r the past 2 50 other magnificent illuminated Provost's House
manuscripts housed in the Old
years, particularly a fter a fire in 1984 that (<.1760)
Library's treasury, a long w ith
caus ed severe damage. Its walls are hung with the celebrated Book of Kells.
huge portraits of college dignitaries.