It was built in 1752-1759 and is guarded by impressive statues of the poet, Oliver Goldsmith and the orator, Edmund Burke. What draws millions of visitors to Trinity though, is its amazing library and its grand treasure - the Book of Kells. The Trinity Library The Library Act of 1801, entitled Trinity Library to receive a free copy of every book published in the UK and the right still holds today. Of course, the library at the college couldn't possibly hold all those books - well over 3 million at this stage. In fact, each year a mere kilometer of shelving must be found to store the new books.
Today there are additional facilities dotted around Dublin to take the overflow.
The 65-meter Long Room at Trinity is dedicated to housing about 200,000 of the library's oldest volumes. Also on display are Ireland's oldest harp and a rare copy of the Proclamation of the Irish Republic. A different page of the famous book is displayed every day in Trinity Library. This book is reputed to be one of the oldest in the world and has often been praised as one of the most beautiful. It is an illuminated manuscript of the four gospels in Latin and the detail is fascinating and intricate.