Travel – Iona

This is an excerpt from my book Travels through History : Ten Scottish Islands currently on sale at a discount.

Columba, meaning ‘Dove of the Church’, was born in County Donegal in 521 or 522. He received an excellent education and was a priest, poet, musician, scribe, and scholar when he set off as a ‘soldier of God’. Columba founded other monasteries besides Iona, including Durrow in Ireland, Hinba on Colonsay, and Mag Luinge on Tiree. He did little missionary activity and the large-scale conversions attributed to him were probably achieved by others. On Iona, he lived the life of an ideal monk, copying manuscripts, praying and meditating, and leading the other monks in worship.

Columba died in 597. In 634, King Oswald of Northumbria invited Ionian monks to found a monastery at Lindisfarne. Known as the great Gospel book of St Columba, the Book of Kells was created by a few monks in the scriptorium at Iona, possibly to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Columba’s death. The Book of Kells comprises the completed Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke and part of John’s Gospel, drawn from the Vulgate Bible, a Latin version completed around 400. People soon took the Book of Kells to Dublin for safekeeping once the Viking raids started. 

In 806, the Vikings arrived and pillaged the remaining treasures, thus showing the wisdom of the decision. Further raids followed through the next two centuries. Martyrs’ Bay is the site where 68 monks were killed by Vikings in 806. The beach, also called Port Nam Mairtear, is near the ferry pier and is a popular spot for paddling and swimming because of its gradual sandy slope and relatively warm water (for the Hebrides). It offers stunning views of the Sound of Iona, Mull, and the island of Erraid, but when you stand there, remember those monks. 

Ironically, it was the established Roman Catholic church that did for Iona. Iona was a bastion of the Celtic Church, but King David suppressed the Celtic Church in 1144, and in 1203, the establishment of a nunnery for the Order of the Black Nuns and a Benedictine Abbey brought Iona into the mainstream.

The royal city of Dunfermline overshadowed Iona, and the Reformation brought its demise when people dismantled the buildings and destroyed most of the Celtic crosses. The abbey and surrounding buildings we see today date from the period 1899 – 1965. Anyone who is interested in the history of The Labour Party in the UK may wish to find the grave of their former leader John Smith in the cemetery. He’s next to the wall with a view of the nearby abbey. 

Iona is a 5-minute ferry crossing from Fionnphort on Mull. The island is not that big, and it’s easy to walk to most places including the Bay at the Back of The Ocean though you should know the local golf course is here too, so you may be asked to remove yourself from the fairway when a golfer is trying to make a shot. If you have a dog, keep it on a lead at all times as otherwise it could well start chasing sheep. Close the gates behind you as there are working farms on the island.