The Book of Kells

800 AD — A dazzling illuminated manuscript, the high point of Insular art.

Created around 800 AD by monks — most likely on Iona and at Kells — the Book of Kells is a gospel manuscript of extraordinary decoration, with spirals, knotwork and beasts woven around the Latin text. It survived Viking raids and is now Ireland's most treasured book, kept at Trinity College Dublin.