by Barbara Guess

Created on: December 28, 2010   Last Updated: December 29, 2010

The Book of Kells is a religious manuscript of exquisite craftsmanship, possibly created in 800 AD when calligraphic skills had reached their zenith in Ireland. The skilled penmanship was taught and developed within the confines of the monasteries of the time using the equipment and resources available.

The manuscript contains the four gospels of the Christian New Testament in a hybrid version of the Old Italic or Ante-Hieronymian and the Vulgate, St Jerome’s 6th century translation and is written in Latin.

The writers of the manuscript remain unknown but the differing levels of workmanship displayed indicate scribes of different levels of ability. Some of the pages remain unfinished, revealing the order of execution.

Maybe it was written by St Columba, the founder, in 563 AD of the monastery of Iona, an island off the west coast of Scotland, from where Christianity spread to northern England. Or it could have been written in honour of the anniversary of his death.

Two hundred years after St Columba’s death the monastery of Iona was abandoned, when Viking raids made it too dangerous for the monks to continue living there, causing them to relocate further to the west to the monastery of Kells in County Meath, Ireland. Kells Abby was plundered and sacked many times during the 10th century and how the manuscript survived is hidden. In the 11th century the book was stolen and its cover, which was possibly gold studded with gems, was removed and never found. On 18th November 1539, during the dissolution of the monasteries, Kells was surrendered to the Crown and in 1541 the Roman Catholic Church took the book into safekeeping. No trace of the monastery of Kells, the building, now remains.

The text and illustrations provide a rare insight into early medieval life in Ireland and is considered a world treasure.

Instead of paper the pages or folios are made from calfskin or vellum that had to be cured and prepared carefully before use. The inks and coloured pigments came from a variety of origins, some from as far away as Iran and Afghanistan and would have been very costly to procure. Bird feathers, maybe swan or goose were cut at an angle at the base to form quill pens to write with.

The rich illustrations were used to help the illiterate peasants understand the story the gospels told, so to facilitate the spread of Christianity and many decorative styles have been used, together with symbols, figures and animal designs.

The Book of Kells has been kept at Trinity College, Dublin since 1660 and is housed in the Old Library, where it is on view to the public.

Learn more about this author, Barbara Guess.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.