Hotels near Trinity College and the Book of Kells

Trinity College Dublin, founded by Queen Elizabeth I in 1592, is the country's oldest university and the natural starting point for any list of places to visit in Dublin. The 47-acre campus sits in the centre of the city, just south of the River Liffey, and is open to visitors free of charge for self-guided wandering through cobbled squares and Georgian quadrangles.

The headline attraction is the Old Library, home to the Book of Kells, a 9th-century illuminated manuscript of the four Gospels created by Celtic monks. The exhibition then leads into the Long Room, a 65-metre barrel-vaulted hall lined with 200,000 of the library's oldest books and marble busts of philosophers. Note that as of 2026 parts of the Long Room collection are undergoing a major conservation project, so some shelves may be empty during your visit, but the architecture is intact.

Pro Tip: Book the timed-entry Book of Kells ticket online for the first slot of the day (around 09:30) to beat the cruise-ship and tour-bus crowds, who typically arrive from 10:30 onwards.