Guide To Dublin's Magnificent Chester Beatty Library

The Chester Beatty Library is a must! As you enter the Dublin Castle gardens, it’s over on the right. Follow the signs as you head toward happiness.

Now, it’s not the sort of library where you can borrow a book by a famous Dublin author. And it’s not just musty books on display either.

Nope, the Chester Beatty is an actual specialty museum filled with precious Asian and Middle Eastern artworks.

The museum was founded by a Canadian mining magnate, Sir Alfred Chester Beatty.

He spend his life wandering the world collecting loads of interesting historical bits and pieces, illuminated manuscripts, ceramics, and icons.

He was mostly interested in Oriental and religious manuscripts. When he died, he bequeathed the whole lot to his fave country, Ireland. That magnanimous act earned him a state funeral in 1968.

A couple years ago, the library won the “European Museum of the year” award, which is like Eurovision for museums without the brutal music.

There are treasures galore — Egyptian papyrus, ancient illuminated copies of the Qur’an, and beautiful Japanese and Asian prints and paintings. The collection succeeds, in part, thanks to its pan religious nature.

The best bit? You don’t have to pay a cent to see them. You just walk in. And perhaps stick around for the cafe and gift shops.

Guide To The Chester Beatty Library: What To See

The exhibition hosted in the Clock Tower is distributed on two floors of the building.

Exhibits are regularly rotated to help preserve them. And you’ll see that the lights are dimmed too for this purpose.

Gallery 1

This floor contains the permanent exhibition, Arts of the Books. It’s simple but impressive.

It’s divided into three sections dedicated to Oriental art, Islamic art, and Western art. It displays object from Asia, the Middle East, North Africa, and Europe.

The central theme of the exhibition is the making of books and manuscripts in various cultures. You’ll find manuscripts, printed volumes, book binds, calligraphy tools, printings instruments, miniatures, prints, and drawings.

On the right, you’ll discover treasure from India, the Orient, and Southeast Asia, with a particular focus on works from China and Japan.

Objects from China include cups made of rhinoceros tusks, lacquered boxes, finches printed on silk, and a series of small perfume bottles made of precious gems.

One article that stands out is an elegant silk robe embroidered with the imperial emblem: a dragon with five claws.

The Japanese objects are one of the museum’s most precious collections.

They include sculptures in ivory, wood, or jade that portray peoples, animals, and plants. They were once attached to kimono belts.

But, to me, the array of Japanese paintings was the most riveting. There are many hand painted images, scrolls, and engravings dating from the beginning of the 17th century to the 19th century.

Some are as long as 95 feet. They are all intricately and exquisitely detailed.

At the center of the gallery, you’ll also find examples of Islamic, Arab, Persian, and Turkish art. There’s a rare treatise on engineering and astronomy.

In the Western section, the most valuable item is the Book of the Dead from Ancient Egypt, containing love poems that have somehow survived since 1160.

There’s also the Book of Hours, dating from the 14th century.

It contains a collection of prayers, psalms, and other religious texts, designed to be recited at specific times of the day. It has beautiful illuminations (illustrations), calendar pages, and detailed decorations.

I even saw several drawings by the famed German artist Albrecht Durer!

Gallery 2

Upstairs is the permanent exhibition Sacred Traditions. The layout is the same as the floor below and there are plenty of informational panels on the various religions represented.

To the left are items illustrating the Western Christian traditions — pre-Christian texts, Judaic scrolls, and early Old and New Testament manuscripts.

Treasures include a double papyrus page of St. Luke’s Gospel, a segment of the Book of Revelation, and the oldest fragment of the final New Testament chapter yet discovered.

Even more astonishing is the version of St. Paul’s Epistle written around 100 and a copy of St. Augustine’s City of God from around 1100.

Gallery 2 also houses art of the Eastern religions — Buddhist, Hindu, Jain, Taoist, and Shinto.

While in Southwest Assia, Beatty collected Thai paintings of the life of Buddha and gilded lacquer statues from Burma.

Tibet yielded elaborate prayer wheels as well as a Thanka painting on cotton cloth of the four-armed Avalokitesvara.

Sermon attributed to Theophilus, patriach of Alexandria — Sermon attributed to Theophilus of Alexandria

Practical Guide & Tips For Chester Beatty Library

Address: Dublin Castle, Dublin 2, D02 AD92

Tickets: Admission is free, with a suggested donation of € 10.

Hours:

The museum is open Monday to Friday from 9:45 am to 5:30 pm, Wednesday until 8:00 pm, Saturday from 9:45 am to 5:30 pm, and Sunday from 12:00 pm to 5:30 pm. It’s closed on Mondays from November to February.

Time To Spend:

I was there a couple hours. But if this is your artistic interest niche, you could easily spend half a day there. Especially if you want to sit down at the very cool Silk Road Cafe.

Because the museum is free, you can even break up your visit over a couple days.

Pro Tips:

Be prepared for rather dark lighting and dark red and blue walls.

Part of this is to help preserve the collection. Part of it is to underscore the preciousness and antiquity of the artifacts housed within.

Even if you aren’t an expert on Asian art (I’m definitely not), I think anyone can enjoy this wonderful small museum.

The objects on display are undeniably beautiful. And it’s a rare collection you won’t find in many places.

I hope you’ve enjoyed my guide to the Chester Beatty Library. You find these other Dublin travel guides useful:

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