Columba
Irish abbot and missionary who spread Christianity in Scotland
The individual known as Columba, whose name also appears as Colmcille, was an Irish abbot and missionary credited with initiating the spread of Christianity in what later became Scotland.[1] The abbey he established on Iona grew into a major religious and political force that held sway for many centuries.[1]
Quick Facts
- Titles
- Apostle of the Picts
- Born
- 7 December 521 AD
- Birthplace
- Gartan, Tyrconnell, Gaelic Ireland
- Died
- 9 June 597 AD (aged 75)
- Place of death
- Iona, Dál Riata
- Feast day
- 9 June
- Venerated in
- Catholic Church
- Eastern Orthodox Church
- Anglicanism, Lutheranism
- Major shrine
- Iona, Scotland
Facts from the source article.
Life and work
Columba was born to Fedlimid and Eithne of the Cenél Conaill in Gartan, near Lough Gartan in modern County Donegal, Ireland.[2] On his father's side, he was a great-great-grandson of the pseudo-historical high king Niall of the Nine Hostages.[2] Around 563 AD, he travelled to Scotland with twelve companions in a wicker currach covered with leather.[3] He took monastic vows and subsequently received ordination as a priest.[4]
Conall mac Comgaill, the King of Dál Riata and a relative of Columba, granted him the island of Iona.[3] The monastery on Iona, which he established, served as a centre from which Christianity was spread to the pagan Pictish kingdoms in the north.[5] At Inverness, he met with the pagan King Bridei of Fortriu, gaining the king's esteem even though he did not convert him.[6] Tradition holds that Columba's death occurred on Iona on a Sunday, 9 June 597.[7]
He is credited with authoring three Latin hymns that have survived from the early medieval period.[8]
What the cited sources add
A 2017 article in The Irish Post notes that Columba was also known as Columba, a Latin version of Colum.[9] According to that article, Clan Malcolm/Clan McCallum derives its name from Colmcille and is traditionally thought to have been established by his offspring.[9]
References
- Wikipedia, "Columba" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: ; ; MacDonald, Aidan D. S. (2013) Iona and the Shrine of Columba, c.800–1200, CORA, University College Cork: Cork Open Research Archive, https://hdl.handle.net/1046 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Columba" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Meehan, "Sacred Ireland", Gothic Image Publications, 2004, p. 125; "The Birthplace of ColmCille", 9 June 2016; Reeves 1850, p. 82; Munn 1985, p. ; "Ordnance Survey Memoirs for the Parishes of Desertmartin and Kilcronaghan", Ballinascreen Historical Society, 1986 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Columba" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Crawley, "Lives of the Saints", John J. Crawley & Co, 1954; Fletcher 1989, p. 23–24; "Who is St. Columba?", St. Columba Retreat House (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Columba" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "St Columba and the Isle of Iona", Historic UK (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Columba" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Charles-Edwards 2000, p. 303; Wagner Konstam 2012, p. 14 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Columba" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Henderson, "The Picts", Praeger, 1967, p. 47, 76 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Columba" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Mc Carthy, Daniel P.,'The Chronology of Saint Columba's Life', in Moran, P. & Warntjes, I. (eds), Early Medieval Ireland and Europe: Chronology, Contacts, Schol; Jennings, "Iona and the Vikings: Survival and Continuity", Northern Studies, 1988, p. 34–54; "Scotland's History – Columba", BBC, 1 January 1970 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Columba" (CC BY-SA 4.0) en.wikipedia.org
- Lonergan, "11 facts about St Colmcille – the Irish patron saint who was banished from Ireland for starting a tribal war", The Irish Post, 9 June 2017. facts only, no text reused. irishpost.com
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Columba (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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