After a quick breakfast at the Bagel Bar Coffee House, we were off to Trinity College to see The Book of Kells. As a calligrapher, I have learned a little about this manuscript, and knew I wanted to see it for myself.
The Book of Kells is a world famous illuminated manuscript containing the four Gospels of the New Testament (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and a portion of John). They were written in Latin by monks around 800 AD. When I admire the quality of the workmanship back then, the drawn letters on the pages, the colours of the hand made inks from natural sources, and the illuminated images, I shall never complain about not having enough resources in my art stash (that may not stop me from buying more, though). Leading up to the actual viewing, we learned that 185 calf skins were used to create the vellum needed for the manuscript, the components used to create each of the colors, and examples of decorated letters and decorated words.
The Book of Kells is kept in a dark room, under a glass case, near the Long Room of the Trinity College Library. The page we were able to experience was Luke 4:1, the temptation of Jesus. We saw the ornamental treatment of the first words of the account of the temptation. "And Jesus being full of the holy ghost." An interesting point to note was the devil on the left hand side and how it was pronounced with its intense black ink. Restoration discovered that there were 20 stab marks to the devil made with the point of a knife that went through to other pages. The entire experience was truly magical for me! (Like right up there with the Amber Room of Catherine the Great's Palace.) No photography is permitted in this area.
We transitioned to the Long Room where busts of great philosophers such as Socrates, Plato, Bacon, Newton, Milton, and more were honoured there.
Busts of 4 influential women were added in 2020. Up until 1904, women were not allowed at Trinity College. A little side story...
The former Trinity College Provost, and George Salmon, had once proclaimed, "Over my dead body will a woman enter this college." Well, the story goes that almost immediately after his death, the first woman registered, which made Trinity College the first in Britian and Ireland to accomplish this.
Other artifacts include the Brian Boru Harp (emblem of Ireland and oldest of its kind), and one of the few remaining copies of the 1916 Proclamation of the Irish Republic.
Upon leaving the Long Room, we roamed around and ventured over to the gift shop for a Christmas tree ornament. We had a great conversation with Ken, the man at the till.
The Red Pavillion housed a digital presentation where we learned more about some of those honored in the long room - Rosalind Franklin (identified the crystalline structure of DNA), Isaac Newton, Ada Lovelace (mathematician). There was also a digital page turning of addition pages from the Book of Kells.
Then, on to check off something from Bill's bucket list - The Guiness Storehouse. This was about a 30min walk. We arrived early, and were allowed to enter upon our arrival.
Bill has preferred Guiness (on draft) over any other beverage, so, of course, we needed to stop here and enjoy a glass of the black stuff from the source. Here are some interesting points:
- Arthur guiness signed his lease for the property for 9000 years in 1759. This document is in the floor of the Storehouse.
- Guiness is 95% water and its water source comes from the Wicklow mountains.
- Barley is roasted at 232 degrees Celsius. Any higher and the barley catches fire, any lower and it won't develop the unique character of Guinness.
The process requires milling - preparing the grist, mashing - making the wort, and boiling - stabilizing the bitter/sweet wort.
On to the tasting room! It is here that they explained how the unique flavor of Guinness is achieved.
As we were walking back toward our end of town, I took a picture of the Brazen Head, the oldest pub in Ireland. We took about 20 steps and abruptly turned around to see what all the fuss was about and why it's still around.
We were promptly seated upstairs (because we could do the stairs), and were next to two lovely ladies from Colorado. Maura is the Executive Director for the Foothills Arts Center in Golden, Colorado. She is here on business, hosting a watercolour tour of the west coast with 14 people. We immediately connected with talking about the Rockies and the arts. Her mother-in-law, Suzanne, was also with her and had done calligraphy years ago. Talk about serendipitous meetings!
We both enjoyed another Guiness and fish and chips for an early dinner. The fish was tender, and the fries were not crispy, but tasty all the same.
On our walk back, we saw these beauties enjoying an evening sail.
It’s another early night for us to catch up on our sleep.