Donnacha MacGabhann, The Book of Kells  A Masterwork Revealed: Creators, Collaboration, and Campaigns

Reviewed by Thomas Keyes, Master Craftsman, Stories on Skins

I first came across Donnacha’s work as his PhD thesis, which this book synthesises. I intended to stop reading it when his incredible proposition—that the Book of Kells was the work of only two individuals—fell apart. But it didn’t, and I couldn’t put the book down. Even with cumbersome academic writing weighed down with references and many, many images of repeating forms, the excitement and importance of his very solidly presented discovery shone through. This book trims the academic jargon while retaining convincing evidence that only two individuals created the Book of Kells. 

Donnacha’s theory is based on an incredible amount of meticulous research with nearly every letter, brush stroke, and decision within the manuscript considered, so there is virtually no space for a counter argument to emerge. This book brings us close to the two individuals and provides readers with tools to identify the two distinct hands working on the manuscript.

In this respect the book needs to be treated like a good single malt. If you tried to take it all in at once you’re liable to end up with a sore head, but if sipped in good company (in this case the free online library edition of the Book of Kells (https://www.sidestone.com/books/the-book-of-kells) or a hard copy with decent images of significant pages), then you’re in for a treat. While pouring over the academic argument of the text, the reader will absorb the vision that Donncha acquired through painstaking analysis. The reward becomes clear when looking back to the Book of Kells itself with the newfound ability to distinguish the hands of each of the two contributors. Previously incongruous daubs of red lead suddenly become signs of a scribe’s very personal struggle with failing capacity; the collaborative effort is witnessed across pages; and many of the manuscript’s previously confusing and obscure features now illuminate the lives of two great, previously lost medieval artists. 

This is a read well worth the effort for the unique window it gives us into the creation of the Book of Kells and its two enigmatic scribes. I highly recommend it for anyone whose interests touch on the times, crafts, and culture surrounding the Book of Kells.