Books are my business: archivist at the manuscripts and archives research library at TCD

Felicity O'Mahony's work is very involved with the 'Book of Kells' since first working on an exhibition on 1995

Felicity O’Mahony selects the openings for the 'Books of Kells' which change every 12 weeks during the winter and every eight weeks during the summer at Trinity College, Dublin.

Felicity O’Mahony is an archivist at the manuscripts and archives research library at Trinity College, Dublin, with responsibility for the Book of Kells. Originally from Co Cavan, she lives in Co Wicklow.

How did you become an archivist?

I studied history at Trinity. I was interested in research but I couldn’t afford to go on and do a doctorate at the time, so I decided to study archives at UCD and I did a post-grad in that. 

As is often the case in life, I was in the right place at the right time — a job came up in Trinity in the archives, and I slid in there and stayed. 

I was so lucky. I was seduced by the collections in Trinity, because there are over 400 years of amassed manuscripts and printed books. 

There are other fantastic collections in the country, but none quite as varied and comprehensive as the one in Trinity library. It has been an extraordinary place to work.

What does your role involve?

It is a very small department so your role is not clearly defined by one area, collections, you have to cover everything. But from the 1990s onwards, I became very involved with the Book of Kells. 

I worked on exhibitions, the first one, in 1995, and the following one, in 1998, and they’re the ones that have had well over a million visitors now at this stage. So that’s a huge public impact.

I also edit materials relating to the manuscript, writing blogs about the images that are on display, for instance.

You can get a lot of praise or a lot of flack depending on what you choose. But we have a responsibility to keep rotating the manuscripts, so the famous pages can’t be on display all the time.

Everybody wants to see the Eight Circled Cross, the Virgin and Child, or the Chi-Rho page, but sometimes you have to settle for a script page. And you have to spend a lot of time looking at the opening and coming up with information explaining to people what they’re seeing. 

We have people coming off cruise ships who have to be back on deck in two hours, to people who are genuflecting in front of the Book of Kells. 

Also, as the Book of Kells is also available online, it has piqued people’s interest. So we have to deal with a huge amount of correspondence with people who have noticed certain details in the Book of Kells and have queries. 

I have had quite a few tattoo-related questions, with people asking if is it OK to have a tattoo made from a detail on a page and what does it mean. 

Or people who have bought a scarf in the library shop that’s covered in fairly random text from the Book of Kells and they want to know what it means. There is never a dull day.

What do you like most about what you do?

What I like most is that I’m constantly learning and I’m in an environment where I have access to great colleagues, in the department and in the wider academic community. 

You’re constantly being asked questions that make you stop and think. Everybody sees and perceives details in a different way, so you’re constantly confounded and surprised. 

And I love the work I do beyond the Book of Kells. I’m working on collections of modern literary papers and I also work on ancient Greek manuscripts. I have learnt a huge amount.

What do you like least about it?

At the moment, Excel spreadsheets, because we are currently moving 400 years of contents from the old library building over to the basement of the Ussher library and elsewhere. 

My life for the past two years has been logistics and spreadsheets. And I can’t wait for it to end.

Three desert island books

Excellent Women by Barbara Pym. I’m a big fan of hers. Like Trollope or Austen, she can describe in minute detail life going on in a small place.

The second book, and I have lost count of the number of copies I have given to other people, is This is Happiness by Niall Williams. It reminds me of growing up in rural Ireland and his use of language is beautiful.

My third one would be Landmarks by Robert MacFarlane. He looks at language and how it’s applied to our emotional response to our environment. 

He collects beautiful words for the environment from across these islands and explores how we interact with nature.

• The Book of Kells Experience is now open for booking at visittrinity.ie