Trinity College Dublin in Dublin, Ireland, recently announced a new, world-class digital exhibition transporting visitors into the illuminated pages of the ninth-century Book of Kells. The Book of Kells Experience brings visitors on a journey through Ireland’s literary and religious past through the historic text and other renowned collections of the college’s iconic Old Library.

© Book of Kells Experience

The first of its kind in Dublin, the experience sits within Ireland’s oldest university and supports the Old Library Redevelopment Project.

The experience will be set within a specially constructed pavilion on the historic grounds of Trinity. First, visitors will view the Book of Kells in the Old Library before taking in the Long Room, considered one of the most iconic and beautiful libraries in the world.

Then visitors embark on a 360-degree immersive experience in the pavilion. Sights, stories and sounds inspired by the ancient manuscript and Old Library’s precious collection await, including an innovative digital reconstruction of the Long Room.

© The Book of Kells Experience

The experience also explores other books and manuscripts from the Old Library’s historically significant collections. For instance, visitors can travel back to 1916 to hear the Proclamation of the Irish Republic, interact with sculptures of figures such as Jonathan Swift and William Shakespeare, and see the architectural evolution of the Long Room from 1732 to modern day.

The opening date for The Book of Kells Experience will be announced soon, with updates found here.

© The Book of Kells Experience

The Book of Kells is an illuminated manuscript and Celtic Gospel book in Latin containing the four Gospels of the New Testament. The manuscript is dated to around A.D. 800 and was named after the Abbey of Kells in which the manuscript was housed for centuries.