A Journey to Iona......illustrated

Iona is a tiny little island three and a half miles wide and one mile long, belonging to a group of islands known as The Hebridean Islands it lies just one mile from the larger island of Mull.

The history of Iona, dates back to prehistoric times, when even then it was regarded as somewhere special.
Around 563 AD Iona began her journey to what she is today with the arrival of Saint Columba.

Legend tells us that Columba was of royal Irish descent, but his calling was to the Monastic life style not that of Kings and princes. He established many monasteries in Ireland before being forced to become involved in the feuds of that time period, the end result of that being that he led men into battle and 3000 men were killed.
These men were "the enemy" but the death of so many or perhaps even the death of one was too much for a deeply religious man.

Columba travelled through Ireland seeking advice from many holy men but eventually his decision was that he had to leave Ireland on pilgrimage out of sight of Ireland.
Along with 12 others he left Ireland in 563 by boat, heading toward the west coast of Scotland.

There was already an Irish settlement at the ancient Kingdom of Dalraida in Argyll but this was still within sight of Ireland and so Columba had to move on.

Eventually they reached a sheltered cove on the South coast of Iona ( the coast not facing mainland Scotland) now known as Port a 'Churaich in Gaelic or Port of the Coracle in English.
The Coracle being the name of the type of boat Columba and his companions were using.
The highest point on Iona is only 332 feet above sea level and from there Ireland is not visible.
Columba had found his refuge.

This hill which Columba climbed to make sure that Ireland was not visible has a beautifully unique name.
It is called Carn-Cul-ri-Eirinn, the hill with it's back to Ireland.

Columba built a monastery and other holy buildings both on Iona and on the Scottish mainland, historical sources say he travelled to Dalraida and other areas populated by the Gaelic speaking Celts spreading his message of Christianity throughout what was still mainly a pagan land.

Many of his followers arrived on Iona and established a community there both of abbots and monks to inhabit the monastery, with other settlers choosing to live and work on Iona to be near this centre of Christianity.
Saint Columba carried on with his pilgramage to spread the word of Christianity until his death on Iona, in his church in 597 AD.

His monasteries survived and flourished until the times of the Viking raids from Norway in the 9th century.
From then until the 12th century there were constant wars with the Norse men over who was controlling Iona although some of these Vikings did become Christians and settled on Iona and as they did so, the mix of Norse and Gaelic bloodlines began.

The wars with the Vikings were similar to the later battles of Scottish independence from England, in that Norway wanted to rule Iona and their leader to be known as Lord of the Isles, but at the same time as this was happening the man first known as Lord of the Isles made an appearance.

He was Somerled, his father was Gillebride Mac Gille Adomnan, from the royal blood line of the ancient Kings of Dalraida, his mother was a Viking woman, her name is lost in history.
Somerled defeated the Vikings on the mainland and by marrying the daughter of Olaf the Red, the Viking Lord of the Isles, he gained some years free of fighting before Olaf died in 1154.
On Olaf's death his son came from Norway to take control but his tyrannical leadership caused the people of the islands to rebel against him, the Chieftains of the island clans appealing to Somerled for help. By 1156 Somerled was the undisputed Lord of the Isles, his descendents carrying on the title for centuries to come.

This pushed Iona further into the lamp light as these Chieftains chose to be buried there as did many of the Kings of Dalraida and Scotland, making Iona known today as the burial place of the ancient kings.

Somerled had been a religious man and on his death his son brought Benedictine monks and Augustinian nuns to Iona.
Around this time, the abbeys and monasteries on Iona were being re built and again Iona became a sacred place of pilgrimage and remains as such to the present day.
Iona is now the most sacred place in Scotland and over 140 thousand people visit the tiny island every year.

Now that the background history is there please turn the page to join me in a illustrated tour of Iona.