These decorated letters are the extraordinary creation of the monks working on manuscripts to tell the story of Christ from the Bible. Pictures next to capital letters were combined. A new and inspired illumination then changed the design on the pages. At a time of upheaval and wars, monasteries managed to preserve human knowledge by storing artworks and rewriting manuscripts.
The date and birthplace of the Book of Kells is much disputed. The Book of Kells is thought to have originated on the island of Iona in Scotland in the monastery set up by Saint Columba in 563 AD. After the violent and destructive Viking raids on Iona, the Book it seems was hidden and later stored in the Abbey of Kells, County Meath, Ireland.
Pilgrims today visit the island of Iona to honour the site as a place of early Celtic Christianity. This much-treasured illuminated manuscript was written in Latin and is today housed in the Trinity College Library in Dublin.
Many of the examples come from the Book of Kells from c 800 AD. These decorated animal letters give an idea of the style and complexity of work on the pages of the manuscripts. Colour is not true to the originals. My drawings were drawn from the drawings of George Bain and Aidan Meehan from books for students on the subject.
