Argyll - The Rough Guide to Scottish Highlands and Islands - page 80

1 ST COLUMBA

Legend has it that St Columba (Colum Cille), born in Donegal some time around 521, was a
direct descendant of the semi-legendary Irish king, Niall of the Nine Hostages. A scholar and
soldier priest, who founded numerous monasteries in Ireland, he is thought to have become
involved in a bloody dispute with the king when he refused to hand over a copy of St Jerome's
Psalter , copied illegally from the original owned by St Finian of Moville. This, in turn, provoked
the Battle of Cúl Drebene (Cooldrumman) - also known as the Battle of the Topic - at which
Columba's forces won, though with the loss of over 3000 lives. The story goes that, repenting
this bloodshed, Columba went into exile with twelve other monks, eventually settling on Iona
in 563, allegedly because it was the first island he encountered from which he couldn't see his
homeland. The bottom line, however, is that we know very little about Columba, though he
undoubtedly became something of a cult figure after his death in 597. He was posthumously
credited with miraculous feats such as defeating the Loch Ness monster - it only had to hear
his voice and it recoiled in terror - and casting out snakes (and, some say, frogs) from the
island. He is also famously alleged to have banned women and cows from Iona, exiling them
to Eilean nam Ban (Woman's Island), just north of Fionnphort, for, as he believed, “Where there
is a cow there is a woman, and where there is a woman there is mischief.”

beginning with the Synod of Whitby in 664, which chose Rome over the Celtic
Church, and culminated in its suppression by King David I in 1144.
In 1203, Iona became part of the mainstream Church with the establishment of an
Augustinian nunnery and a Benedictine monastery by Reginald, son of Somerled, Lord
of the Isles. During the Reformation, the entire complex was ransacked, the contents of
the library burnt and all but three of the island's 360 crosses destroyed. Although plans
were drawn up at various times to turn the abbey into a Cathedral of the Isles, nothing
came of them until 1899, when the (then) owner, the eighth Duke of Argyll, donated
the abbey buildings to the Church of Scotland , who restored the abbey church for
worship over the course of the next decade. Iona's modern resurgence began in 1938,
when George MacLeod , a minister from Glasgow, established a group of ministers,
students and artisans to begin rebuilding the remainder of the monastic buildings.
What began as a mostly male, Gaelic-speaking, strictly Presbyterian community is
today a lay, mixed and ecumenical retreat. The entire abbey complex has been
successfully restored, and is now looked after by Historic Scotland, while the island,
apart from the church land and a few crofts, is in the care of the NTS.

Baile Mór
The passenger ferry from Fionnphort drops you off at the island's main village,
BAILE MÓR (literally “Large Village”), which is in fact little more than a single terrace
of cottages facing the sea. You will, though, find most things of a practical nature
located here, including the island's main hotel, restaurant and a well-stocked shop.

Augustinian nunnery
Just inland lie the extensive pink-granite ruins of the Augustinian nunnery , disused
since the Reformation. A beautifully maintained garden now occupies the cloisters,
and if nothing else the complex gives you an idea of the state of the present-day abbey
before it was restored.

Iona Heritage Centre
Across the road to the north from the Augustinian nunnery • Easter-Oct Mon-Sat 10.30am-4.15pm • £3
In the former manse, the Iona Heritage Centre has displays on the social history of the
island over the last 200 years, including the Clearances, which nearly halved the island's
population of 500 in the mid-nineteenth century. One of the more intriguing exhibits is