An Old Library Catalogue

Gallery local catalogue H-N
Library of Trinity College Dublin, 19th century Thousands of visitors marvel at the Long Room every year, but only a lucky few people are permitted on the Gallery above. Building work on the Old Library was completed by 1732 but, within a century, the book collection had outgrown it. In the 1840s and 1850s, ingenious hinged bookcases on wheels were installed under the Gallery windows. In 1859, Gilbert Cockburn was contracted to build a solution, designed by the architects Deane and Woodward, to the 'insecure' roof and lack of shelf space, which had to be revised during construction as the dilapidation was worse than had been realised. Granite pillars were created in the space below the Long Room, supporting timber columns, which held the new, barrel-shaped roof. Shelves were built above those of the Long Room, leaving only a few of the hinged units.