Book of Kells

The Book of Kells is a spectacular group of manuscripts created in Ireland and northern Britain between the 7th and 10th centuries, a period when Irish monasticism was in the vanguard of Christian culture. Its earliest history remains controversial, but it was in the keeping of the monastery of Kells, Co. Meath, for most of the Middle Ages - hence its name - and has been in the library of Trinity College, Dublin, since the mid-17th century.