But, astonishingly, the high arched roof that is such a feature of the room was an 1860 addition when the gallery was continued upward to branch into this great barrel vault. So perfect is this synthesis of 18th-century classicism and 19thcentury Romanesque that it is hard to believe that the interior was not originally designed as it now stands. And so to the treasure. I first saw the Book of Kells nearly 40 years ago and can remember that it was then open at the page showing a stolidly seated Virgin holding on her lap an astonishingly mature and adolescently long-haired Christ. Each of these full-size pages showing scenes from the life of Christ and the Evangelists is framed by a brilliant and intricately designed border of interlacings, circles, swirls, design within design.
Every page is a wonder.
One visit is not enough even to begin to penetrate the mystery of this extraordinary book. One sees in imagination that long dead hand moving slowly across the vellum. And it must, surely, have been a young hand. Old eyes working by candlelight could hardly have produced such fine and intricate detail. The result is a manuscript that combines remarkably the skills of superlative craftmanship with inspired creativity.