D Angote, CBS.

The Trinity College Library serves Trinity College and the University of Dublin, and is the largest library in Ireland, containing more than 6.2 million volumes and an extensive collection of early manuscripts, including internationally famous Book of Kells. It was established in 1592 CE, by Queen Elizabeth I and is famous for graduates such as Wilde and Beckett. It is considered as one of the most beautiful and impressive libraries and architectural spaces in the world. The Long Room is the largest single-chamber library in the world. It is 65m long, and is the main chamber of the Library. It was built between 1712-1732 CE, and houses 200,000 of the Library’s oldest books, as well as a copy of every book published in Ireland. To begin with, the Long Room had a flat ceiling and provided shelving only for books on the lower level. However, by the 1850s the room had to be expanded due to the fact that the Trinity College Library became an official copyright library. The license obtained means that the Library has at least one copy of every book ever published in the UK & Ireland. The majority of these books are stored in stacks in Santry as they can’t fit them all on the campus, however, if you request a book in the morning, you’ll receive it by lunchtime. The library is also the only Irish library to hold these rights in the UK. The Long Room is lined with marble busts, the collection of which was formed when fourteen busts from Pieter Scheemakers were acquired by the college. As you walk along the Long Room, you will find that many of these marble busts are of great philosophers, writers, and men who supported the college. You will also find in the room one of the last remaining copies of the 1916 Proclamation of the Irish Republic, as well as the Trinity College Harp – the oldest of its kind in Ireland dating back to the 15th Century CE. #archaeohistories