The Long Room Interior
Long Room
The Long Room, also known as the Trinity College Library in Dublin, Ireland, is to me the most amazing library I have ever visited. It beats the British Library, Le Bibliotheque du Sorbonne in Paris, and easily all the North American libraries I have ever been to. It was built between 1712-1732 and contains 200,000 of Trinity College's oldest books. The Long Room also contains one of the last remaining copies of the 1916 Proclamation of the Irish Republic. Because it houses the Proclamation of the Irish Republic, the Long Room is a also a treasure of the Irish people, and for that reason is not 'just a library'.
Lined with marble busts of famous philosophers, academics and writers (both Irish and not), the atmosphere in the long room is one of weight-weight of centuries of knowledge, findings, and analysis of philosophy and theology.
The Long Room, also known as the Trinity College Library in Dublin, Ireland, is to me the most amazing library I have ever visited. It beats the British Library, Le Bibliotheque du Sorbonne in Paris, and easily all the North American libraries I have ever been to. It was built between 1712-1732 and contains 200,000 of Trinity College's oldest books. The Long Room also contains one of the last remaining copies of the 1916 Proclamation of the Irish Republic. Because it houses the Proclamation of the Irish Republic, the Long Room is a also a treasure of the Irish people, and for that reason is not 'just a library'.
Lined with marble busts of famous philosophers, academics and writers (both Irish and not), the atmosphere in the long room is one of weight-weight of centuries of knowledge, findings, and analysis of philosophy and theology.
The Long Room: Detail of Statuary and Books
Detail of Long Room
I have visited the Long Room twice-once in 2007 and once in 2012, and I would go back again and again. I have been few places that inspire the mind to reach to such heights as the Long Room. The space is infused with politics, theology and prose and also a bit of humour-if you ever have a chance to go, seek out the bust of Jonathan Swift. When I saw it, it made me laugh-although it's very staunch and artistically traditional, it is also of Swift-the man who wrote Gulliver's Travels and A (not so) Modest Proposal. If you are familiar with his writings, you too will understand why there is a bit of humour injected into the Long Room through his bust (it is Irish after all, and the Irish are a cheeky lot). Although the Long Room is not gilded to the extent of other places I have featured in my blog, it is without question very grand, and will forever remain a mark of pride for the Irish people.
I have visited the Long Room twice-once in 2007 and once in 2012, and I would go back again and again. I have been few places that inspire the mind to reach to such heights as the Long Room. The space is infused with politics, theology and prose and also a bit of humour-if you ever have a chance to go, seek out the bust of Jonathan Swift. When I saw it, it made me laugh-although it's very staunch and artistically traditional, it is also of Swift-the man who wrote Gulliver's Travels and A (not so) Modest Proposal. If you are familiar with his writings, you too will understand why there is a bit of humour injected into the Long Room through his bust (it is Irish after all, and the Irish are a cheeky lot). Although the Long Room is not gilded to the extent of other places I have featured in my blog, it is without question very grand, and will forever remain a mark of pride for the Irish people.
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