In the early 8th century, an illuminated manuscript known as the\u00a0Lindisfarne Gospels was created.\u00a0 It is a richly illustrated\u00a0copy of the\u00a0Gospels\u00a0of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.\u00a0 The original manuscript is now in the British Library, where it is part of the Cotton Collection, which has recently been added to the UNESCO Memory of the World Register.\u00a0 From time to time, facsimiles have been made and Armagh Robinson Library has been presented with a copy for its collection.<\/p>\n
The gift to the Library is in memory of Jack Lindsay.\u00a0 Jack was born in England, but attended school in Northern Ireland during the War.\u00a0 His affection for Armagh first grew in the holidays and weekends he spent at his grandparents\u2019 farm near Tullyallen.\u00a0 He had other local connections, too.\u00a0 His grandfather, Richard Lindsay, was headmaster of the Grange School at Loughgall for forty years and his uncle, Dr Eric Lindsay, was Director of the Armagh Observatory from 1936 until his death in 1972.<\/p>\n
Jack lived in Northumberland, and taught physics at the Royal Grammar School in Newcastle upon Tyne.\u00a0 Following his retirement, he became active in church life, and learned more about the Lindisfarne Gospels.\u00a0 This historic manuscript made an immense impression on him, not least for its beauty and reflected his own connections with both Ireland and Northumberland.\u00a0 He bought one of the facsimiles and asked his family to present his copy to a suitable venue in Northern Ireland after his death.\u00a0 The family including his sister, Mary Balfour, and his children, Emma, Thomas and James Lindsay, decided that Armagh Robinson Library should be its new home.<\/p>\n
A representative of Jack Lindsay\u2019s family said, \u201cIn bringing them to Northern Ireland, Jack hoped that people, young and old, would not only come to see the Gospels, but also learn from them.\u00a0 He wished these Gospels to be shared and enjoyed by as many people as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
In receiving the Gospels, the Keeper, the Very Revd Gregory Dunstan, said, \u201cIt is a great honour for the Library to receive this gift.\u00a0 Another eight-century manuscript, the Book of Armagh, was written not a hundred yards from here.\u00a0 We have a reproduction of it, a digital copy of the original in the Library of Trinity College Dublin, and a reproduction of the Book of Kells.\u00a0 These all reflect the great flowering of Celtic Christianity across these islands.\u00a0 This is an immensely generous gift, and we are enormously grateful to Jack Lindsay\u2019s family for entrusting it to us.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Lindisfarne Gospels will remain on permanent display in the Library\u2019s Long Room, open daily 10.00 \u2013 1.00 and 2.00 \u2013 4.00.<\/p>\n
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