Book of Kells was quartered in the church at Kells, and the governor of the town sent the book to Dublin for safekeeping. Henry Jones, who later became bishop of Meath after the Restoration, presented the manuscript to Trinity College in Dublin in 1661, and it has remained there ever since, except for brief loans to other libraries and museums. It has been on display to the public in the Old Library at Trinity since the 19th century. Over the years, the Book of Kells received several additions to its text. In the 16th century, one Gerald Plunkett of Dublin added a series
Book of Kells pages were, in effect, turned into carpet pages. The decoration of these texts is so elaborate that the text itself is almost illegible. The opening page (folio 29r) of Matthew may stand as an example. (See illustration at left.) The page consists of only two words: "Liber generationis" ("The book of the generation"). The "lib" of "Liber" is turned into a giant monogram which dominates the entire page. The "er" of "Liber" is presented as an interlaced ornament within the "b" of the "lib" monogram. "Generationis" is broken into three lines and contained within an elaborate frame in the right