This 360° panorama shows the Long Room Library at Trinity College Dublin as it looked with its shelves full — row after row of books filling the double-height galleries. The shelves are partly empty today because of the Old Library conservation project, but this panorama shows them full. That is the view most people picture when they think of one of Ireland’s most famous historic interiors, and part of the Book of Kells visitor experience in the heart of Dublin.
The conservation project — shelves partly empty today
If you visit now, the Long Room looks different. Almost all of its books have been taken off the shelves for the Old Library Redevelopment Project: a major conservation programme to repair and protect the collection and the structure of the room itself. Only a limited number of books remain on display, currently in the first four sections as you enter. The Book of Kells itself is still on view, and the visitor experience remains a major Dublin attraction — but the panorama above is how the library looked when the shelves were full.
Timeline (as published by Trinity): the Old Library and Long Room are due to stay open to visitors until the end of 2027, when restoration and construction works are scheduled to begin. The library is then expected to reopen around 2030. During the closure, the Book of Kells is planned to move to the restored Printing House on campus. Always check Trinity’s Old Library Redevelopment FAQs for the latest dates.
Gaia — the illuminated Earth in the Long Room
In January 2024 I was invited to be among the first to see a touring art installation hanging beneath the Long Room’s vaulted wooden ceiling — and to hear about the conservation project first-hand. That piece is Gaia, by British artist Luke Jerram: a floating, internally lit three-dimensional sculpture of Earth, seven metres (23 feet) across, showing high-definition NASA imagery of the planet’s surface (from NASA’s Visible Earth series). At this scale, each centimetre of the sculpture represents roughly 18 kilometres of real Earth. Installed as part of the Book of Kells Experience during the Old Library Conservation Project, it gives visitors a sense of the planet as seen from space — a striking counterpoint to the partly emptied shelves around it.
Over 200,000 texts are normally stored in those lofty vaults, including rare and ancient works such as the Book of Kells, the Book of Durrow and the Book of Armagh. The Book of Kells is the biggest draw: an illuminated manuscript of the Four Gospels, written around 800 AD. Other exhibits include an original copy of the Proclamation of the Republic from the Easter Rising in 1916, and the oldest Irish harp in existence (15th century) — the same harp that features on Irish euro coins.
James Joyce described the Book of Kells as “the most purely Irish thing we have.” The Long Room also inspired the Jedi Library in Star Wars.
Is the Long Room in Harry Potter?
No. The Long Room Library at Trinity College did not appear in the Harry Potter films. The library used in the films is a reading room in the Radcliffe Camera at Oxford University’s Bodleian Library, with its traceried windows clearly visible — an architectural style not present in the Long Room. The association you see online is a myth.
About the Long Room
Visitors can see the gleaming marble busts of famous Irish writers including Jonathan Swift, and of ancient philosophers. Construction of the library was complete in 1732, but it was not until 1860 that it took its current form with the double-height gallery bookcases and vaulted ceilings in the panorama above. At 65 metres in length, it is easy to see why it is called the Long Room.
Tickets and prices
The official Book of Kells Experience (Old Library, including the Long Room, plus digital exhibition) starts from €25 per person. Concession tickets are available for seniors and students. Online booking is strongly recommended — entry is timed. Check current options and book on the official Visit Trinity site.
Opening hours
Hours as published by Visit Trinity (always confirm before you go):
- Monday–Thursday: 8:30am – 6:30pm
- Friday–Saturday: 8:30am – 7:00pm
- Sunday: 9:00am – 6:30pm
The Long Room Library is in Trinity College, right in the centre of Dublin at College Green.
Photograph Trinity and Dublin with Darren
Panoramic Ireland was the first to create a 360° panorama of the Long Room Library. For a private photography session around Trinity, College Green and the wider city, book a Dublin photography tour — or see more about our Dublin photo tours and workshops.
