Staffa

Cabinet 10

According to tradition, Columba founded a monastery on Iona in the Inner Hebrides off the western coast of Scotland in 563. This was the beginning of Christianity in Scotland.

Although a hagiography, the Life of Columba by Adamnan (624-704), the ninth abbot of Hy (the original name for Iona) remains a key source as it was written about 100 years after Columba’s death and was based on authentic records and oral traditions.

The graves of many early Scottish Kings, including Cináed mac Alpín (king of the Picts, and known as ‘Kenneth I of Scotland’) and Mac Bethad mac Findlaích (‘Macbeth’, king of Scotland) are in the abbey graveyard. For those who want to view them, a 10 minute ferry ride from Fionnphort on Mull will get you there.

Abbot Adamnan (Adomnán), Life of Saint Columba, Founder of Hy. Edinburgh: Edmonston and Douglas, 1874.