Argyll - The Rough Guide to Scottish Highlands and Islands - page 82

through human sacrifice. Oran apparently volunteered to be buried alive, and was
found to have survived the ordeal when the grave was opened a few days later.
Declaring that he had seen hell and it wasn't all bad, he was promptly reinterred for
blasphemy. Oran's Chapel stands at the centre of Iona's sacred burial ground, Reilig
Odhráin (Oran's Cemetery), which is said to contain the graves of sixty kings of
Norway, Ireland, France and Scotland, including Duncan and Macbeth.

1

Street of the Dead
Approaching the abbey itself, from the ticket office, you cross an exposed section of the
evocative medieval Street of the Dead , whose giant pink-granite cobbles once stretched
from the abbey, past St Oran's Chapel, to the village. Beside the road stands the most
impressive of Iona's Celtic high crosses, the eighth-century St Martin's Cross , smothered
with figural scenes - the Virgin and Child at the centre, Daniel in the lion's den,
Abraham sacrificing Isaac, and David with musicians in the shaft below. The reverse
side features Pictish serpent-and-boss decoration. Standing directly in front of the
abbey are the base of St Matthew's Cross (the rest of which is in the Infirmary
Museum) and, to the left, a concrete cast of the eighth-century St John's Cross ,
decorated with serpent-and-boss and Celtic spiral ornamental panels. Before you enter
the abbey, take a look inside St Columba's Shrine , a small steep-roofed chamber to the
left of the main entrance. Columba is believed to have been buried either here or under
the rocky mound to the west of the abbey, known as Tórr an Aba.

The abbey
he abbey itself has been simply and sensitively restored to incorporate the original
elements. You can spot many of the medieval capitals in the south aisle of the choir and
in the south transept, where the white-marble effigies of the eighth Duke of Argyll and
his wife, Ina, lie in a side-chapel - an incongruous piece of Victorian pomp in an
otherwise modest and tranquil place. The finest pre-Reformation effigy is that of John
MacKinnon, the last abbot of Iona, who died around 1500, and now lies on the south
side of the choir steps. For reasons of sanitation, the cloisters were placed, contrary to
the norm, on the north side of the church (where running water was available); entirely
reconstructed in the late 1950s, they now shelter lots of medieval grave-slabs.
ARRIVAL AND GETTING AROUND ISLE OF IONA

By ferry The CalMac passenger ferry from Fionnphort is very
frequent (every 30min in summer, less frequent in winter;
£4.95 return, cycles free), and takes just ten minutes.
By taxi Believe it or not, there is a taxi on the island
( T 07810 325990).

Bike rental Visitors are not allowed to bring cars onto
the island, but bikes can be rented from the Finlay Ross
general store, just up from the jetty (£8/day) and the
Seaview guesthouse in Fionnphort (see p.82).

INFORMATION AND TOURS
Tourist information There's no tourist o ce on Iona,
but there is a useful information board just up from the
jetty, as well as the website W isle-of-iona.com.
Boat tours Mark Jardine's Alternative Boat Hire ( T 01681
700537, W boattripsiona.com), based on Iona, takes the
lovely wooden gaff-rigged sailing boat Birthe Marie on

short trips to some of the less-visited spots around the
Sound of Iona and Erraid (Easter-Oct; £25 for a three-hour
trip; booking advised).
Wildlife tours Whale-watching and wildlife outings are
organized by Volante ( T 01681 700362, W volanteiona
.com; £40/3hr 30min).

ACCOMMODATION AND EATING
Argyll On Baile Mór's main street T 01681 700334,
W argyllhoteliona.co.uk. Inviting, stone-built hotel in the
village's terrace of cottages overlooking the Sound of Iona,
with sixteen sweet, though somewhat boxy, rooms spread
throughout a maze of corridors. It is very overpriced, but it

can afford to be. Feb-Nov. £140
Cnoc-Oran Camping T 01681 700112, W iona
campsite.co.uk. Turn left at the jetty and it's a twenty-
minute walk to this super little campsite, which has a
couple of showers and toilets, firepits and BBQs. You can