Book of Durrow
The Book of Durrow is a Latin text of the Gospels, written about 675, and is ‘the earliest surviving fully decorated insular Gospel manuscript’ (Meehan, 9). Despite its association with the monastery of Durrow, Co. Offaly, some scholars suggest its origins in Iona or in Northumbria. Decorated in yellow, green and red only, the Book of Durrow contains the symbols of the Evangelists, interlaced geometric patterns, and full ‘carpet’ page ornamentation. It disappeared in the 16th century. In the 17th century the manuscript belonged to a farmer who dipped it into a trough as a cure for sick cattle, as it was believed to possess special powers. It is now MS. 57 at Trinity College, Dublin.
Evangeliorum Quattuor Codex Durmachensis [Book of Durrow]. Olten: Urs Graf-Verlag, 1960; facsimile. Spec Coll Stack BS 2552 D8 BK27