Everything about Columba totally explained
» See Columba (disambiguation) and St Columb for other uses.
Not to be confused with St Columbanus, also Irish and partly his contemporary.
Saint Columba (
7 December 521 -
9 June 597), sometimes referred to as
Columba of Iona, or, in
Old Irish, as
Colm Cille or
Columcille (meaning "
Dove of the church") was an outstanding figure among the
Gaelic missionary monks who, some of his advocates claim, introduced
Christianity to the
Kingdom of the Picts during the
Early Medieval Period. He was one of the
Twelve Apostles of Ireland.
Early life in Ireland
Columba was born to Fedlimid and Eithne of the
Uí Néill house in
Gartan, near
Lough Gartan,
County Donegal, in
Ireland. On his father's side he was great-great-grandson of
Niall of the Nine Hostages, an
Irish high king of the
5th century.
In
early Christian Ireland the
druidic tradition collapsed, with the spread of the new Christian faith. The study of
Latin learning and Christian theology in
monasteries flourished. Columba became a pupil at the monastic school at
Clonard Abbey, situated on the
River Boyne in modern
County Meath. During the
sixth century, some of the most significant names in the history of Irish
christianity studied at the Clonard monastery. It is said that the average number of scholars under instruction at Clonard was 3,000. Twelve students who studied under
St. Finian became known as the
Twelve Apostles of Ireland, Columba was one of these. He became a monk and was ordained as a priest.
Tradition asserts that, sometime around
560, he became involved in a quarrel with Saint
Finnian of Moville over a
psalter. Columba copied the manuscript at the
scriptorium under Saint Finnian, intending to keep the copy. Saint Finnian disputed his right to keep the copy. The dispute eventually led to the pitched
Battle of Cúl Dreimhne in
561, during which many men were killed. Columba's copy of the psalter has been traditionally associated with the
Cathach of St. Columba. A synod of clerics and scholars threatened to excommunicate him for these deaths, but St.
Brendan of Birr spoke on his behalf with the result that he was allowed to go into exile instead. Columba suggested that he'd work as a missionary in
Scotland to help convert as many people as had been killed in the battle. He
exiled himself from Ireland, to return only once again, several years later.
Scotland
In
563 he travelled to Scotland with twelve companions, where according to his legend he first landed at the southern tip of the
Kintyre peninsula, near
Southend. However, being still in sight of his native land he moved further north up the west coast of Scotland. In
563 he was granted land on the island of
Iona off the west coast of Scotland which became the centre of his
evangelising mission to the
Picts. However, there's a sense in which he wasn't leaving his native people, as the Irish
Gaels had been colonizing the west coast of Scotland for the previous couple of centuries. Aside from the services he provided guiding the only centre of
literacy in the region, his reputation as a holy man led to his role as a
diplomat among the tribes; there are also many stories of miracles which he performed during his work to
convert the Picts. He visited the
pagan king
Bridei, king of
Fortriu, at his base in
Inverness, winning the king's respect. He subsequently played a major role in the politics of the country. He was also very energetic in his evangelical work, and, in addition to founding several churches in the
Hebrides, he worked to turn his monastery at Iona into a school for missionaries. He was a renowned man of letters, having written several
hymns and being credited with having
transcribed 300 books. One of the few, if not the only, times he left Scotland after his arrival was toward the end of his life, when he returned to Ireland to found the
monastery at
Durrow. He died on Iona and was buried in the abbey he created.
Several islands are named after Columba in Scotland - including "Ì Chaluim Chille" (one of the
Scottish Gaelic names of
Iona),
Inchcolm and
Eilean Chaluim Chille
Lasting legacy
Columba is credited as being a leading figure in the revitalization of
monasticism, and "[h]is achievements illustrated the importance of the
Celtic church in bringing a revival of Christianity to Western Europe after the fall of the Roman Empire".
Vita Columbae
The main source of information about Columba's life is the
Vita Columbae by Adomnán (also known as
Eunan), the ninth Abbot of Iona, who died in
704. Both the
Vita Columbae and Bede record Columba's visit to Bridei. Whereas Adomnán just tells us that Columba visited Bridei, Bede relates a later, perhaps Pictish tradition, whereby the saint actually converts the Pictish king. Another early source is a poem in praise of Columba, most probably commissioned by Columba's kinsman, the king of the Ui Neill clan. It was almost certainly written within three or four years of Columba's death and is the earliest vernacular poem in European history. It consists of 25
stanzas of four verses of seven syllables each.
The earliest recorded example of the name
Arthur in a British document occurs, as
Arturius, in Adomnan's
vita. There it occurs as the name of a prince among the Scots, the son of
Áedán mac Gabráin, king of
Dál Riata from AD 574, far from the legendary
King Arthur's familiar haunts in the southwest.
The vita of Columba is also the source of the first known reference to a
Loch Ness Monster. According to Adomnan, Columba came across a group of Picts who were burying a "poor little man" who had been killed by the monster, and saved a swimmer with the
sign of the Cross and the imprecation "You will go no further", at which the beast fled terrified, to the amazement of the assembled Picts who glorified Columba's God. Whether or not this incident is true, Adomnan's text specifically states that the monster was swimming in the
River Ness -- the river flowing from the loch -- rather than in
Loch Ness itself.
Through the reputation of its venerable founder and its position as a major European centre of learning, Columba's Iona became a place of
pilgrimage. A network of Celtic
high crosses marking processional routes developed around his shrine at Iona.
Columba is historically revered as a warrior saint, and was often invoked for victory in battle.
His relics were finally removed in
849 and divided between Alba and Ireland. Relics of Columba were carried before Scottish armies in the reliquary made at Iona in the mid-8th century, called the Brecbennoch.
Legend has it that the Brecbennoch, was carried to
Bannockburn by the vastly outnumbered Scots army and the intercession to the Saint helped them to victory. It is widely thought that the
Monymusk Reliquary is this object.
O Columba spes Scotorum... "O Columba, hope of the Scots" begins a 13th century prayer in the
Antiphoner of Inchcolm, the "Iona of the East".
St Columba's
feast day is June 9 and with
Saint Patrick,
March 17, and
Saint Brigid,
February 1, is one of the three patron saints of Ireland. Prior to the battle of
Athelstaneford, he was the sole patron saint of Scotland. He is also venerated within the
Orthodox faiths as a saint and
Righteous Father.
Further Information
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