The Book of Dimma is an 8th-century Irish pocket Gospel Book

Gospel Book

The Gospel Book, Evangelion, or Book of the Gospels is a codex or bound volume containing one or more of the four Gospels of the Christian New Testament...

 originally from the Abbey of Roscrea, founded by St. Cronan in the County Tipperary

Tipperary

Tipperary is a town and a civil parish in South Tipperary in Ireland. Its population was 4,415 at the 2006 census. It is also an ecclesiastical parish in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly, and is in the historical barony of Clanwilliam....

, Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

. In addition to the four Gospels, in between the Gospels of Luke

Gospel of Luke

The Gospel According to Luke , commonly shortened to the Gospel of Luke or simply Luke, is the third and longest of the four canonical Gospels. This synoptic gospel is an account of the life and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth. It details his story from the events of his birth to his Ascension.The...

 and John

Gospel of John

The Gospel According to John , commonly referred to as the Gospel of John or simply John, and often referred to in New Testament scholarship as the Fourth Gospel, is an account of the public ministry of Jesus...

, it has an order for the Unction and Communion of the Sick. The surviving illumination of the manuscript is a number of illuminated initials, three Evangelist portrait

Evangelist portrait

Evangelist portraits are a specific type of miniature included in ancient and mediæval illuminated manuscript Gospel Books, and later in Bibles and other books, as well as other media. Each Gospel of the Four Evangelists, the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, may be prefaced by a portrait of...

 pages and one page with an Evangelist's symbol.

The gospels other than John are "written for the most part in a rapid cursive script

Cursive script

Cursive script may refer to* Cursive, handwriting styles* Roman cursive script, a style of Latin calligraphy.* Hebrew cursive script, a style of Hebrew calligraphy.* East Asian cursive script, a style of Chinese calligraphy....

", while John is "by a different scribe, in neat minuscule

Minuscule

Minuscule may refer to:* Lower case letter* Minuscule script, a group of writing styles in ancient and medieval Greek or Latin manuscripts:** Minuscule cursive or new Roman cursive, used in Latin manuscripts...

 bookhand". It was signed by its scribe, Dimma MacNathi, at the end of each of the Gospels. This Dimma has been traditionally identified with the Dimma, who was later Bishop of Connor, mentioned by Pope John IV

Pope John IV

Pope John IV was elected Pope of the Catholic Church, after a four-month sede vacante, December 24, 640.Pope John was a native of Dalmatia . He was the son of the scholasticus Venantius. At the time of his election he was archdeacon of the Roman Church, an important role in governing the see...

 in a letter on Pelagianism

Pelagianism

Pelagianism is a theological theory named after Pelagius , although he denied, at least at some point in his life, many of the doctrines associated with his name. It is the belief that original sin did not taint human nature and that mortal will is still capable of choosing good or evil without...

 in 640. This identification, however, cannot be sustained.

In the 12th century the manuscript was encased in a richly worked cumdach

Cumdach

A cumdach or book shrine is an elaborate ornamented box or case used as a reliquary to enshrine books regarded as relics of the saints who had used them in Early Medieval Ireland...

 or reliquary

Reliquary

A reliquary is a container for relics. These may be the physical remains of saints, such as bones, pieces of clothing, or some object associated with saints or other religious figures...

 case, which remains with it at Trinity. On one face it has panels of openwork decoration in Viking Ringerike

Ringerike

oskar er kjempe kulRingerike is a municipality in Buskerud county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Ringerike...

 style over the wood case. There is a good reproduction of 1908 in the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...

in New York, which is not on display there, but has good illustrations available online, unlike the original piece.