The island of Iona lies on the edge of Scotland. Its eastern side is less than a mile from the south-western tip of the isle of Mull, and if you were to sail due west from the other side, the next piece of land would not be encountered for some 2,000 miles (one of the coastal islands of Newfoundland).
Iona itself is small – around 3 miles in length and 1.5 miles wide – and its permanent population of around 170 is easily outnumbered for parts of the year by visitors eager to experience its natural beauty and historical significance.
This was the island which Colm Cille (St Columba) chose (or was given) in the late 6th century as his new home and on which he built a monastery[1]. Columba was a member of the Irish nobility, a member of the Cenél Conaill in what is now Ulster, the northern province in Ireland. At that time, the Cenél Conaill were one of the dominant “kindreds” of the Northern Uí Néill[2].
There are conflicting stories as to why and when he left Ireland to settle on Iona. One story is that he was forced out after a copyright dispute which led to a battle and many deaths. However he would occasionally return to Ireland which suggests that if there is any truth in this story, it had no long-lasting impact. Columba did set up other monasteries (both in what is now Scotland and Ireland) and certainly had relationships with the Dal Riadan and Pictish rulers.
About a century after his death in 597, one of his successors as Abbot of Iona, Adomnan, wrote a hagiography of Columba. This is a fascinating read which is mainly a recounting of the miracles and other feats (many of which are clairvoyant) Columba performed. One of the most famous is thought to be the first recorded mention of the “Loch Ness Monster”. Adomnan tells us how, approaching the banks of the River Ness, he came across the burial of a man who had been killed by a water beast (aquatilis bestia). This appears in the second book of Adomnan’s Life so by the time his readers have got to this point, they will be accustomed to Columba’s inner confidence and therefore be unsurprised by his next action, which was to send one of his travelling companions out into the water as bait for the monster. Just as this poor soul was about to be devoured, the saint made the sign of the cross and shouted out to the beast:
“Proceed no further! Do not touch that man! Retreat at once![3]”
And of course, the original Nessie did as she was told!
These stories aside, the book does contain some useful information about the people of Ireland and Scotland, including that as a speaker of early Gaelic, Columba needed an interpreter when talking with the Picts[4], so backing up Bede’s statement[5] that these were separate languages.
As the monastery on Iona became more established it seems to have become a significant site in northern Christianity. Bede[6] claims that Columba himself preached the word of God to the Northern Picts and by the first half of the 7th century Iona was playing a major part in the conversion of Northumbria. The abbey of Lindisfarne was founded by Aidan from Iona, at the request of the Northumbrian king. The island soon also became a place where kings of a number of realms were buried: Ecgfrith, defeated by the Picts at Dun Nechtain in 685, was one of these.
Iona’s power diminished in the eight century, partly due to the efforts of King Naiton (see Nechtan mac Derilei: King Naiton of the Picts) but its influence on learning remained. One of the important documents produced on the island at the time was a Chronicle which is no longer extant, but which was clearly used by some of the Irish Annals as a source. It is because of this that we hear so much about Pictland and Dal Riada in the Annals of Ulster and Tigernach, at least up to the middle of the 8th century.
Another important work of early literature which may have begun on Iona is the Book of Kells, which is a highly ornate copy of the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, and parts of John.
As with other monasteries – notably Iona’s “child” Lindisfarne – its lack of defences and treasures made Iona a target for the Vikings. The first attack on the island is usually dated to 795. The Annals of Innisfallen describe “The plundering of Í Coluim Chille (Iona), and of Inis Muiredaig, and of Inis Bó Finne (Inishmurray and Inishbofin, two islands off the west coast of Ireland).”[7]
Note that the Annals do not specifically state who plundered these islands, but given that, as per the Annals of Ulster for the previous year, there was a “devastation of all the islands of Britain by heathens”[8] where “heathens” are the common description of the Northmen, there seems to be little doubt who was to blame.
Further raids took place over the next few years. In 802, the Annals of the Four Masters report that “the island of Coluim Cille was burned by foreigners, i.e. by the Northmen[9]” and in 806 we are told some shocking data:
“The community of Iona, that is 68 people, was killed by the heathens.”[10]
The frequent attacks almost certainly led to the concealment of some of the more religious treasures, including the transfer of the Book of Kells to the place in Ireland from where it took its name. The Abbot in 818, Diarmaid, “went to Scotland with the shrine of Columba” but it appears that this was only temporary. In 825, while Diarmad was away in Kells, leaving an experienced temporary abbot Blathmac, son of Flann, in charge, there was another attack. The Annals report that Blathmac was martyred[11] but fortunately we have more details in a poem written by Walafrid Strabo (“squint-eyed”), a German monk and theologian. In his poem[12], Walafrid tells us that the monks had hidden the relics of the Saint and when questioned by the Vikings, had replied:
“…Ignoro penitus, quod quaeritis aurum
Quo sit humi positum, lectum quibus atque latebris.
Quod si scire mibi, Christo admittente, Iiceret,
Nunquam nostra tuis hoc auribus ora referrent”
(“…I do not know of the gold you are looking for
Where it was placed in the ground, where its bed and hiding places lie.
But if I did know that, with Christ’s permission,
Never would my mouth tell it to your ears”)
Furious, the Vikings killed him.
Diarmaid returned to Iona and the monastic community continued, with replacements for those who had lost their lives. The Annals report that in 829 he took Columba’s relics to Scotland and then in 831 to Ireland.[13] But again this seems temporary; they would eventually end up in Dunkeld and Kells, which would themselves later be the victims of Viking attacks.
After 825 we have no further record of Iona being attacked for another 161 years. It is tempting to think that the island had been emptied of treasures and community sometime in the 9th century and therefore there was nothing to be raided. However, archaeological, literary, radiocarbon and placename evidence suggests that the monastic community continued, alongside a Norse presence, perhaps becoming a site of pilgrimage.[14]
The importance of Iona as a religious centre means that we have been left with a reasonable record of some events of the first turbulent decades of the 9th century. It was not unique in its misery of course, but it helps us to picture the beginning of the Scandinavian era of Irish and British history.
[1] The traditional date is 563 as given in the Annals of Ulster (563.4)
[2] The Northern Uí Néill was one of the groups in Ireland claiming descent from a figure known as Niall of the Nine Hostages. The other such group was the Southern Uí Néill. In the north the other most powerful dynasty alongside the Cenél Conaill was the and Cenél nEógain. Both of these were named after two of Niall’s sons: Conall and Eógain. A future blogpost will look in more detail at the politics of Ireland at this time.
[3] “Noles ultra progredi, nec hominem tangas; retro citius revertere” Adomnan, Vita Columbiae II.27
[4] Vita Columbiae: I.33 “per interpretem” and II.32 “per interpretatorem”
[5] Historiam Ecclesiasticam Gentis Anglorum I.1
[6] Historiam Ecclesiasticam Gentis Anglorum III.4
[7] “Orcain Iae Coluim Chille ⁊ Inse Muirethaig ⁊ Inse Bó Finne.” Annals of Innisfallen 795.2
[8] “Uastatio omnium insolarum Britannię a gentilibus.” Annals of Ulster 794.7
[9] “h-I Choluimb Chille do losccadh la h-allmurachaibh .i. la Nortmanoibh” Annals of the Four Masters 797.12 (but year referred to is probably 802)
[10] “Familia Iae occisa est a gentilibus, id est .lxuiii”. Annals of Ulster 806.8
[11] Chronicon Scotorum (825.9): “Martra Blaithmaic meic Flainn o gentibh i n-I Coluim Cille” (The violent death of Blathmac son of Flann at the hands of the heathens on Iona); Annals of Ulster 825.17: “Martre Blaimhicc m. Flainn o genntib i nh-I Coluim Cille.” (“The violent death of Blathmac son of Flann at the hands of the heathens on Iona”); Annals of the Four Masters 823.13: “Blathmac, mac Flainn, do ghabháil coróna mairtir, uair do marbhadh-somh la Galloibh i nh-I Coluim Cille.” (“Blathmac, son of Flann, received the crown of martyrdom, for he was killed by the foreigners on Iona”
[12] https://www.documentacatholicaomnia.eu/02m/0780-0849,_Walafridus_Strabo_Fuldensis,_Vita_Sancti_Blaitmaici_Abbatis_Hiiensis_Et_Martyris,_MLT.pdf
[13] Annals of Ulster 829.3; Annals of Ulster 831.1
[14] For a view challenging the traditional narrative of how Iona was wiped out by the Vikings see Iona in the Viking Age: laying a ‘zombie narrative’ to rest by Adrián Maldonado, Ewan Campbell, Thomas Owen Clancy, and Katherine Forsyth
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