The manuscripts produced between the late 7th and the early 9th century in Ireland outstrip all other similar European works of the same period when it comes to artistic distinction and the sheer exuberance of the decoration. Producing such codices was an important part of the monastic culture that had come to Ireland from Roman Britain with St Patrick in the 5th century.

The most beautiful of these magnificent manuscripts to have survived is the Book of Kells. Its place of origin is generally attributed to the scriptorium of the monastery founded around 561 by St Colum Cille on Iona, an island off the west coast of Scotland. In 806, following a Viking raid on the island which left 68 of the community dead, the Columban monks took refuge in a new monastery at Kells, County Meath.

The Book of Kells contains the four gospels in a Latin translation. There are 340 folios (678 pages) in colour decorated with miniatures, initials and symbols. It is likely that each gospel was intended to be headed by a page with a full-size miniature of the evangelist symbol, an evangelist portrait and a decorative rendering of the initial of the first word of the text.

Preview	Picture Data	File Info	Comment
	Book of Kells c. 800 Manuscript (Ms. A. I. 6 [58]), 330 x 241 mm Trinity College Library, Dublin	900*1209 True Color 246 Kb
	Book of Kells c. 800 Manuscript (Ms. A. I. 6 [58]), 330 x 241 mm Trinity College Library, Dublin	1300*816 True Color 217 Kb
	Book of Kells c. 800 Manuscript (Ms. A. I. 6 [58]), 330 x 241 mm Trinity College Library, Dublin	800*1063 True Color 203 Kb
	Book of Kells c. 800 Manuscript (Ms. A. I. 6 [58]), 330 x 241 mm Trinity College Library, Dublin	755*1000 True Color 251 Kb
	Book of Kells c. 800 Manuscript (Ms. A. I. 6 [58]), 330 x 241 mm Trinity College Library, Dublin	720*996 True Color 176 Kb
	Book of Kells c. 800 Manuscript (Ms. A. I. 6 [58]), 330 x 241 mm Trinity College Library, Dublin	737*994 True Color 192 Kb
	Book of Kells c. 800 Manuscript (Ms. A. I. 6 [58]), 330 x 241 mm Trinity College Library, Dublin	900*1267 True Color 231 Kb
	Book of Kells c. 800 Manuscript (Ms. A. I. 6 [58]), 330 x 241 mm Trinity College Library, Dublin	911*1200 True Color 215 Kb
	Book of Kells c. 800 Manuscript (Ms. A. I. 6 [58]) Trinity College Library, Dublin	800*1369 True Color 241 Kb
	Book of Kells c. 800 Manuscript (Ms. A. I. 6 [58]), 330 x 241 mm Trinity College Library, Dublin	900*1111 True Color 226 Kb
	Book of Kells c. 800 Manuscript (Ms. A. I. 6 [58]), 330 x 241 mm Trinity College Library, Dublin	918*1200 True Color 231 Kb
	Book of Kells c. 800 Manuscript (Ms. A. I. 6 [58]) Trinity College Library, Dublin	900*986 True Color 193 Kb
	Book of Mulling 750-800 Manuscript (Ms. 60, formerly MS A.1.15) Trinity College Library, Dublin	750*1000 True Color 136 Kb