Following the collapse of the Roman Empire, higher learning was preserved in Ireland during the Dark Ages. This led to a flowering of sculpture, jewelry, metalworking and manuscript illumination (including treasures such as the Book of Kells). The 20th century saw another cultural flowering: Ireland produced four winners of the Nobel Prize in Literature — George Bernard Shaw, W.B. Yeats, Samuel Beckett and Seamus Heaney — plus James Joyce, the father of literary modernism. Today, Ireland is a delightful country through which to make a leisurely driving tour.