A Journey to Iona......illustrated....Page Four

By the time Somerled's son, Reginald became involved, the buildings erected at the time of Saint Colomba were no longer serviceable and reconstruction commenced.


It was at this time that the Augustian Nunnery was built. The ruins of this nunnery are the first of the ancient buildings you see as you walk the path which thousands of pilgrims have walked since Saint Columba's day.

The nunnery was entirely separate from the Abbey, having it's own church and cloisters and would have been a fairly extensive group of buildings.

Today even the ruins retain their beauty and sitting here in the cloister gardens you can easily imagine the full beauty and serenity of the nunnery as it once was.



This photograph was taken through a gap that once contained a window.
I wonder if they were once these beautiful stained glass windows.

The stonework shows beautifully rich and varied colours.









This is taken looking into the ruins of the church and in the back wall you can see what once was definitely an arched stained glass window.

This Window has a triangular head which was often seen in Ireland in this time period.

The arched doorway still shows signs of some elaborate carving.







As you leave the nunnery and continue along the path, you see this large cross, known as MacLean's cross, erected around 1500. A place for the pilgrims to pause as they continued towards the abbey.
As is written on the plaque beside the cross, the solid wheel head depicts the crucifixion. The broad faces are carved with a traditional Celtic interlace pattern.

Beyond the cross is a small chapel known as Teampull Ronain, the original chapel was built in 1200, this more "modern" church was built on the grounds of the old one and excavation of the floor has shown there to be evidence of very early burials corresponding to the time Saint Columba was on Iona.

Please press next to move onto the abbey.