Chester Beatty Library
The world has very few surviving Manichaean scriptures — one of them is inside Dublin Castle.
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Named European Museum of the Year in 2002, the Chester Beatty holds manuscripts and rare books from the world's major faith traditions across two galleries: "Sacred Traditions" and "Arts of the Book." The collection spans Persian, Islamic, East Asian, and Western works, with Christian texts written in seven languages from Armenian to Syriac — including papyrus codices among the earliest surviving Christian documents ever found.
What to look for
- Papyrus 45 and Papyrus 46 in the Western Collection — papyrus codices among the earliest surviving Christian artifacts in the world
- The Gospel of Mani — one of the last remaining Manichaean scriptures on earth
- Almost the entire surviving corpus of Ancient Egyptian Love Songs, held in the Western Collection
Sited in the grounds of Dublin Castle; the current museum opened 7 February 2000.
Chester Beatty Library is one of 35 sights worth the detour in Dublin, all bundled offline in Voyage GO — download the Dublin pack and it sits on your map with no signal, filling your travel passport the moment you walk past.
More to see in Dublin
- Aviva StadiumOne 51,711-seat bowl jointly owned by rugby and football — two governing bodies, one ground, no separate home for either.
- Dublin CastleThe river that gave Dublin its name still flows beneath your feet — and the building above it ran Ireland for 750 years.
- Croke ParkThe fourth-largest stadium in Europe holds 82,300 people — almost entirely for sports most of the world has never watched.
- National Library of IrelandIreland's paper memory — manuscripts, photographs, and newspapers free to open on the spot.
- St Patrick's CathedralIreland's national cathedral has never had a bishop — that role belongs to the rival church 400 metres up the road.
- Spire of DublinA 120-metre stainless-steel pin planted on the exact spot where an IRA bomb in 1966 — and a controlled demolition six days later — erased Nelson's Pillar.