Secrets of the Book of Kells – from Columba to James Joyce
St Columba Heritage Centre houses a rare facsimile of one of the most famous documents in the history of western culture – the Book of Kells.
This book wasn’t written by Columba himself, but it bears all the hallmarks of a distinctly Columban cultural web that stretched from the foothills of Donegal to the Alpes – so much so that the manuscript was referred to in the ancient chronicles as the ‘Gospel of Columba’.
The book was probably made in the 8th century, near the last quarter of the 700s. Containing each of the four gospels, it is lavishly decorated with complex Celtic-Irish knotwork designs and intricate animal motifs, and is regarded as one of the greatest masterpieces of the medieval era. The book contains 10 full-page illustrations – our interactive display shows each of these illustrated pages in all their exquisite glory, inviting visitors to ‘turn the pages’ via touch-screen and pour over the detail.
