The Book of Durrow

An illuminating guide to one of the great masterpieces of Celtic manuscript art, published to coincide with a major exhibition at the British Library

The Book of Durrow is among the earliest surviving decorated manuscripts in north-western Europe, dating to the late seventh century AD. A masterpiece of Celtic art, it is believed to be the oldest fully decorated Insular Gospel that survives, pre-dating the Book of Kells by more than a century. Created in a monastery associated with the Irish saint Colum Cille (St Columba), its text and artwork reflect the formative years of a ‘golden age’ of artistic production in Ireland and Britain. This richly decorated introductory guide explores the manuscript’s distinctive artwork and tells the extraordinary story of its preservation in the Irish monastery at Durrow – first as sacred text then as relic – and its acquisition in the seventeenth century by the Library of Trinity College Dublin.