Iona | Celtic Christianity, Monastery, Pilgrimage | Britannica (original) (raw)

Iona, island of the Inner Hebrides, Strathclyde region, Scotland. It is 3 miles (5 km) long by 1.5 miles (2.4 km) wide, with its highest point just under 330 feet (100 m) above sea level, and is separated by the Sound of Iona (0.7 miles [1.1 km] wide) from the large island of Mull. Most of the island is rough grazing land, but there is some permanent pasture, and sheep and cattle are raised. Tourism and crofting (small-scale farming) are the main economic activities.

Iona was readily accessible by sea from Ireland, and it was here that St. Columba landed in ad 563 to begin his Christianization of Scotland. From his monastery on Iona, Columba established the Celtic church and sent missionaries throughout mainland and insular Scotland. He died in 597 and was buried on the island.

During the period from 795 to the late 10th century, the pagan Norsemen repeatedly invaded the island. The original monastery was burned down and the monks murdered. Iona’s insecurity led to the transfer in 849 of the relics of St. Columba to the safety of Kells in Ireland. By the 11th century the monastery had been rebuilt and was included by the Norsemen (by now converted to Christianity) in their diocese of Man and the Isles. In 1154 this see was put under the archbishop of Trondheim, in Norway, and it retained this status until 1266, when the Hebrides were ceded to Scotland.

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Throughout centuries of invasion and warfare, the reputation of the island as a holy place flourished, and it became the burial place of Scottish, Irish, and Norwegian kings. The monastery was suppressed after the Protestant Reformation, and in 1693 the island passed into the overlordship of the Campbells of Argyll, until 1899, when the 8th duke of Argyll presented the ruined abbey to the Church of Scotland. The abbey was gradually rebuilt and was opened again for public worship in 1912. In 1938 George MacLeod, a Glasgow minister, founded the Iona Community. Pop. (2001) 125.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Lorraine Murray.