Dublin Castle

The Chester Beatty Library and Gallery of Oriental Art located in Dublin Castle was founded by an American who settled in Dublin in 1953. Among the principal treasures in this valuable collection are, in the Garden Library, French Books of Hours of the 14th and 15th C. and a prayer book which belonged to Philip II of Spain; and, in the New Gallery, works of Far Eastern art, including Chinese cups of rhinoceros horn (11th C), Japanese colored woodcuts, Islamic prints, Sanskrit manuscripts (12th-13th C), Indian miniatures, Babylonian clay tablets (2500-2300 B.C.) and numerous texts in all the languages of the Near East.

There are also Egyptian papyrus texts, beautifully illuminated copies of the Qur'an, the Bible, European medieval and renaissance manuscripts are among the highlights of the collection. Turkish and Persian miniatures and striking Buddhist paintings are also on display, as are Chinese dragon robes and Japanese woodblock prints. In its diversity, the collection captures much of the richness of human creative expression from about 2700 BC to the present day.

To the right of the main entrance to Dublin Castle is the Genealogical Office, where people of Irish descent can seek to trace their ancestry. The State Apartments are shown to visitors in a conducted tour lasting about half an hour (entrance in Upper Yard, opposite the main entrance to the Castle). Notable features are the colorful Donegal and Killybegs carpets, the chandeliers of Waterford glass and the pavement of green Connemara marble in the entrance hall. The conducted tour takes in the following rooms; St Patrick's Hall, with a painted ceiling (1778) and the banners of the Knights of St Patrick; the blue Wedgwood Room, with paintings by Angelica Kauffmann (?) ; the Picture Gallery, with portraits of Viceroys; the Throne Room, richly decorated in gold (1740), with an 18th C. throne; the long State Drawing Room with its original furniture; and the Apollo Room or Music Room, with a ceiling of 1746.

At the east end of the Upper Yard a passage leads into the Lower Yard. On the right of this is the Record Tower, one of the four old corner towers, well preserved with its 16ft/5m thick walls, which gives some impression of what the medieval castle was like. The neo-Romanesque Chapel (1807-14) is notable for its unusual external decoration of over 100 limestone heads of famous Irishmen.