Long-hidden library with rare collection to open during festival

It sounds like the Cemetery of Forgotten Books from Carlos Ruiz Zafón’s best-selling Shadow of the Wind but a long-hidden library including works dating back to the 17th century will open its doors for free guided tours during next month’s Immrama Festival of Travel Writing.

The Cotton Library house, at St Carthage’s Cathedral in Lismore, Co Waterford, houses some extraordinary books including one written by 17th-century physicist, Robert Boyle, a rare Gaelic translation of the Book of Common Prayer and an ancient copy of the Koran.

The library began from the private collection of Henry Cotton who, from 1814 to 1822, was sub-librarian at the Bodleian Library at Oxford before he moved to Ireland where he became the dean of Lismore in 1834.

Now, as part of the 10th annual Immrama Festival of Travel Writing in Lismore, which starts on June 7th, the library will open to the public for tours with festival president, Peter O’Dowd and Dean of Lismore, the Very Revd Paul Draper.

The festival will close on June 10th when former librarian turned travel writer Diana Gleadhill from Co Down will read from her works detailing her experiences in Central Asia and Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula.