Chester Beatty

Join the Chester Beatty in celebrating National Heritage Week. Discover, create, and celebrate heritage through a series of fun, hands-on workshops for all ages!

1. Harvest Knots: Discover the techniques and designs our ancestors used to twist ordinary straw into tokens of love and friendship. More information: https://ow.ly/Uatr50ZxGLn

2. Eco-Friendly Animals: Transform recycled cardboard into a menagerie of cut-out animals.
🎟️ Free. Booking required: https://ow.ly/gqtq50ZxGLe

3. Nature’s Orchestra: Inspired by Seamus Heaney’s Death of a Naturalist and the wonderful instruments depicted in the Chester Beatty collection, come and turn tins, tubes, bottles and beans into your very own nature-inspired musical instruments.🎟️ Free. Booking required: https://ow.ly/jH8y50ZxGLi

4. Star Sign Constellations: Join us for a multi-disciplinary workshop focusing on the astrological signs of the zodiac. Discover how different cultures across history mapped and mythologised the stars. 🎟️ Free. Booking required: https://ow.ly/2ZhW50ZxGLf

5. Harvest Looms: Weaving is one of Irelands most treasured traditional crafts. We will be trying out different weaving shapes and designs, and looking at the ways these looms can be used – as decorative wall hangings, or a device to preserve and display dry flowers. 🎟️ Free. Booking required: https://ow.ly/ps8O50ZxGL9

6. The Art of Celtic Knots: Design and draw beautiful Celtic knot patterns, one of Ireland’s most iconic and enduring artistic traditions. 🎟️ Free. Booking required: https://ow.ly/9bb950ZxGLb

We often show you beautiful, almost perfect objects - but the truth is, some of the most interesting objects in the Chester Beatty collection are those that are incomplete, show the wear and tear of their long lives, or were simply never finished. So let's talk a little about imperfections ❤️

This is a folio (page) from a Christian Gospel book, made in the Armenian tradition more than 500 years ago. The main text is relatively complete, but work stopped before the scribe, a priest named Karapet, could finish every page.

These columns were meant to contain the first of the Canon Tables, a roadmap to the gospels before the famous 'chapter and verse' division was created. A fitting subject, as on the other side (verso) is the end of Eusebius' letter to Carpianus, in which the 3rd century theologian explained how the tables work. That side has marginal birds, colourful flowers and an illustration of Carpianus reading the letter from a scroll.

Unfinished manuscripts are incredibly helpful in revealing the work that went into making them - for example, what parts were done first. Here you can see that the patterned header, margins and columns were drawn out, inked and filled in with pigment before the scribe turned his attention to the text. He would have known what text was to be inserted and had a good idea of the space needed.

We may never know exactly why this manuscript was left unfinished by the scribe or later owners. Was Karapet interrupted in his work? Did time or money run out? Did those later owners feel differently about intervening in the original artist's work than they did about adding folios (of which they added many)?

What we do know is that this beautiful, incomplete manuscript shows us what happens when we look beyond perfection - when something altogether more human emerges ❤️



Images: CBL Arm 564, f. 04r, 04v, f. 116 and blind-tooled leather cover, Armenian language Gospel book in bolorgir script, by Karapet for Simeon vardapet, in the Van region (modern Türkiye), 15th century.

Join Chester Beatty tour guide Pam Howard to explore the artistic genius, technical innovation, and lasting influence of Albrecht Dürer, one of the Renaissance’s most celebrated printmakers, through masterpieces from the Chester Beatty collection.

🎟️Free. Limited to 20 participants. To register, please email Natalia at [email protected]

In collaboration with Dublin South City Partnership. 📍This talk is taking place at Richmond Barracks

Dublin South City Partnership

The Heritage Council Conservation Intern, Cecilia Zoppi, presents a fascinating case study on the conservation of a magnificent, but fragile, bookbinding enclosing an important illuminated Arabic manuscript on occult science, produced in Cairo and dedicated to the Mamluk Sultan Qaytbay (1468–1495) (CBL Ar 4041). This talk offers a behind-the-scenes look at the decision-making process, the technical challenges encountered, and the solutions developed to stabilise and preserve this remarkable object. Attendees will gain insight into both the material complexity of Islamic bindings and the practical realities of hands-on conservation work.

🎟️FREE Hybrid Talk

📍Onsite: Neill Lecture Theatre, Long Room Hub, Trinity College Dublin. No booking required.
💻Online: Please register for online viewing via Zoom HERE: https://ow.ly/PmbX50Zv5Cw

About the Speaker:
Cecilia Zoppi joined the Chester Beatty in March 2026 as a Heritage Council Conservation Intern and developed a strong interest in Islamic manuscripts. She completed her MA in Book and Paper Conservation at the University of Turin, in collaboration with the Fondazione Centro per la Conservazione e il Restauro “La Venaria Reale”. As part of her post-graduation Erasmus+ traineeship, she trained in the conservation of Papyrus at the Conservation Department of the Universitätsbibliothek Leipzig.

Trinity College Dublin

From exquisite scroll paintings and woodblock prints to treasured masterpieces, Chester Beatty guide Pam Howard will trace the development of the Chester Beatty’s Japanese collection and reveal the distinctive qualities of Japanese art.

🎟️Free. To register, please email Natalia at [email protected]
Limited to 20 participants.

In collaboration with Dublin South City Partnership. 📍This talk is taking place at Richmond Barracks

Dublin South City Partnership

Pictured: plans for the bank holiday weekend 😎

Painted in 1760s Lucknow, this painting shows a group of friends and noblewomen playing on a sheer rock slide. Against the broad bright greens of the countryside, some watch as the next woman has a go (including a figure who has just tumbled to the bottom), while others take a more relaxed approach, sitting by a pool with musicians.

Whatever you're up to this weekend, we hope you get a moment to have fun with friends just like these 18th century daredevils.

P.S. Did you know you can become OUR friend? ❤️ Become a Chester Beatty member to play your part in the story of our collection. You'll get exclusive museum updates, shop discounts, and invites to special events alongside like-minded folks 🥰



Images: CBL In 11A.69 (detail), Women playing on a rock slide, by Muhammad Faqirullah Khan. Painted album page with gold and glued seed pearls, Lucknow, India, c. 1760.

Bring a touch of Persian art and storytelling to your desk, or gift it to someone who loves history, literature, and beautiful design.
Our A4 folder and notebook feature border details from the legendary Shahnameh (Book of Kings) by Firdausi, illuminated by Zayn al-῾Abidin al-Tabrizi, from the Chester Beatty collection.

Available now in the Chester Beatty online shop ✨📚https://ow.ly/52ZN50ZuzIj

Join us for Qigong by the sea in the lovely surroundings of Blackrock Park. This ancient Chinese outdoors practice, invites you to breathe, move and unwind in one of south Dublin’s most beloved coastal parks. Perfect for complete beginners and seasoned practitioners alike, qigong is a wonderfully gentle way to reduce stress, improve balance and reconnect with yourself.

🎟️FREE, no booking required. Limited to 30 participants.

In collaboration with Dun Laoghaire Rathdown City Council Parks Department; this qigong is taking place in Blackrock Park. 📍Meeting point by the bandstand.

*‘Leave no Trace’ Policy, plus tips and tricks:
- Please bring a reusable water bottle and take all your belongings with you when the activity has finished.
- Please be mindful not to step on any plants or flower beds.
- We recommend wearing comfortable shoes and clothing.
- Please apply sunscreen and bring an umbrella or raincoat as appropriate for the weather.

Join Chester Beatty tour guide Oksana Kravchenko to discover the rich visual world of the famous Persian poet Ferdowsi’s Shahnama (Book of Kings) through illuminated manuscript paintings from the Chester Beatty collection, featuring legendary rulers, heroic figures, beautiful heroines, demons, and the wise mythical Simurgh.

*Please note that this talk will be delivered in Russian.
🎟️Free. To register, please email Natalia at [email protected]
Limited to 20 participants.

Dublin South City Partnership