Chester Beatty Library

Information

The Chester Beatty Library is an art museum and library and houses a collection of Oriental and Western manuscripts and art. The library is located in Dublin Castle. The collections contains early papyri, including some of the earliest texts of the Bible, in addition to other early Christian manuscripts, western prints and printed books.

The Library's Reading Room holds reference material relating to the collections.

Collections

The Library's collections include representative samples of the world’s heritage (artistic, religious and secular) from about 2700 BC to the present century. They comprise of the following:

• The Islamic collections
• The East Asian collections
• The Western collections

Exhibitions

The Library's collections are presented in 2 permanent exhibitions:

• Sacred Traditions
• Arts of the Book

The Library also mounts special temporary exhibitions.

Education services

Educational activities at the Library include talks, children's workshops and demonstrations in techniques represented in the collections, such as calligraphy, painting, printing and other crafts, as well as tours and films.

Further information on the schedule of events is available on the Library's website.

Opening hours

The Library is open all year round apart from 1 January; Good Friday; 24, 25 and 26 December; and Monday public holidays.