Chester Beatty Library
Entrance of the Chester Beatty, Dublin, Ireland | |
Interactive fullscreen map | |
Former name | Chester Beatty Library |
|---|---|
| Established | 1953 |
| Location | Dublin Castle, Dublin |
| Coordinates | 53°20′31″N 6°16′1″W / 53.34194°N 6.26694°W |
| Type | Art Museum, library, Visitor Attraction |
| Collections | The Chester Beatty is Ireland’s leading museum of world cultures, caring for and sharing an extraordinary collection of manuscripts, rare books, miniature paintings and other decorative objects that are of world importance. With collections from Europe, the Middle East and across Asia, the role of the museum is unique in Ireland’s cultural landscape. |
| Collection size | approx 25,000 |
| Visitors | 530,000 (2024) |
| Founder | Sir Alfred Chester Beatty |
| Public transit access | Luas, Dublin Bus, DART |
| Website | chesterbeatty.ie |
The Chester Beatty Library, now known as the Chester Beatty, is a museum and library in Dublin. It was established in Ireland in 1953, to house the collections of mining magnate, Sir Alfred Chester Beatty. The present museum, on the grounds of Dublin Castle, opened on 7 February 2000, the 125th anniversary of Beatty's birth and was named European Museum of the Year in 2002.
The Chester Beatty is one of the premier sources for scholarship in both the Old and New Testaments and is home to one of the most significant collections of Western, Islamic and East & South East Asian artefacts. The museum also offers numerous temporary exhibitions, many of which include works of art on loan from foreign institutions and collections. The museum contains a number of priceless objects, including one of the surviving volumes of the first illustrated Life of the Prophet and the Gospel of Mani, one of the last surviving Manichaean scriptures. Many manuscripts from the Medinet Madi library are currently held at the Chester Beatty Library.