Iona [Irish Ioua=island] or Icolmkill [Irish,=island of Columba of the church], island (1985 est. pop. 267), 3.5 mi (5.6 km) long and 1.5 mi (2.4 km) wide, Argyll and Bute, NW Scotland, one of the Inner Hebrides. Separated from the island Mull by the Sound of Iona, it is hilly, with shell beaches. Farming, livestock grazing, and fishing are carried on, but tourism is the main industry. The island is famous as the early center of Celtic Christianity. St. Columba (see Columba, Saint.), with his companions, landed there from Ireland in 563. They founded a monastery, which was burned by the Danes in the 8th or 9th cent. Iona was a bishopric from 838 to 1098. In 1203 a Benedictine monastery, of which there are remains, was established. The cathedral, formerly the Church of St. Mary, dates from the early 13th cent. The cemetery of St. Oran's Church contains the graves of many monarchs of Scotland, Ireland, Norway, and France. A group called the Iona Community (est. 1938), dedicated to reviving the spirit of Celtic Christianity, has restored many ancient buildings.

Iona is a small island in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. Iona has an important place in the history of Christianity in Scotland and is renowned for its tranquility and natural beauty. Its Gaelic name is Ì Chaluim Cille (Saint Columba's Island; formerly anglicised "Icolmkill"), or sometimes just Ì or Idhe.

Geography

Iona lies approximately one mile (1.6 km) from the coast of Mull. The island is 1 mile wide (1.6 km) and 3.5 miles (5.6 km) long with a resident population of 125.

Iona's highest point is Dùn Ì (101 m, 331 ft), an Iron Age hill fort dating from 100BC-200AD. Its geographical features include the Bay at the Back of the Ocean and Càrn Cùl ri Éirinn (the Hill/Cairn with its Back to Ireland), said to be adjacent to the beach where St. Columba first landed.

History

Prior to the 6th century, Iona may already have been a sacred island in the pre-Christian traditions of the Iron Age inhabitants of the Hebrides. Though there is no actual physical evidence for this, it would explain why Columba settled on this particular island. In 563 Saint Columba, also known as Colm Cille, was exiled from his native Ireland as a result of his involvement in the Battle of Cul Dreimhne, and founded a monastery on Iona with 12 companions. From there they set about the conversion of pagan Scotland and much of northern England to Christianity. Iona's fame as a place of learning and Christian mission spread throughout Europe and it became a major site of pilgrimage. Iona became a holy island where several kings of Scotland, Ireland and Norway came to be buried.

Many believe that the Book of Kells was produced, in whole or in part, on Iona towards the end of the 8th century. A series of Viking raids on the monastery on Iona began in 794, and after its treasures had been plundered many times, Columba’s relics were removed and divided two ways between Scotland and Ireland in 849 as the monastery was abandoned. A convent for the Order of Benedictine Nuns was established in 1203, with Beathag, daughter of Somerled, as first prioress. The present Benedictine abbey was built in the same period. The monastery itself flourished until the Reformation when buildings were demolished and all but three of the 360 carved crosses destroyed.

Iona Abbey

Iona Abbey, now an ecumenical church, is of particular historical and religious interest to pilgrims and visitors alike. It is the most elaborate and best-preserved ecclesiastical building surviving from the Middle Ages in the Western Isles of Scotland. Though modest in scale in comparison to medieval abbeys elswhere in Western Europe, it has a wealth of fine architectural detail, and monuments of many periods.

In front of the Abbey stands the 9th century St Martin's Cross, one of the best-preserved Celtic crosses in the British Isles, and a replica of the 8th century St John's Cross (original fragments in the Abbey museum).

The ancient burial ground, called the Reilig Odhráin, contains the 12th century chapel of St Odhrán (said to be Columba's uncle), restored at the same time as the Abbey itself. It contains a number of medieval grave monuments. The abbey graveyard contains the graves of many early kings of Scotland, as well as kings from Ireland, Norway and France. Iona became the burial site for the kings of Dál Riata and their successors. Notable burials there include:

• King Kenneth I of Scotland
• King Donald II of Scotland
• King Malcolm I of Scotland
• King Duncan I of Scotland
• King Macbeth of Scotland
• King Donald III of Scotland

In 1549 an inventory of 48 Scottish, 8 Norwegian and 4 Irish kings was recorded. None of these graves are now identifiable (their inscriptions were reported to have worn away at the end of the 17th century).

The graveyard is also the final resting place of John Smith, the former Labour Party leader, who loved Iona. His grave is marked with an epitaph quoting Alexander Pope: "An honest man's the noblest work of God".

Other early Christian and medieval monuments have been removed for preservation to the cloister arcade of the Abbey, and the Abbey museum (in the medieval infirmary).

The ancient buildings of Iona Abbey are now cared for by Historic Scotland (entrance charge).

Iona Community

In 1938 George MacLeod founded the Iona Community, an ecumenical Christian community of men and women from different walks of life and different traditions in the Christian church committed to seeking new ways of living the gospel of Jesus in today's world. This community is a leading force in the present Celtic Christianity revival.

The Iona Community runs 3 residential centres on the Isle of Iona and on Mull. These are places of welcome and engagement giving a unique opportunity to live together in community with people of every background from all over the world. Weeks at the centres often follow a programme related to the concerns of the Iona Community.

Other information

Visitors can reach Iona by the 10-minute ferry trip across the Sound of Iona from Fionnphort on Mull. The most common route is via Oban in Argyll & Bute. Regular ferries connect to Craignure on Mull, from where the scenic road runs 37 miles to Fionnphort. Tourist coaches and local bus services meet the ferries. There are very few cars on the island, as they are tightly regulated and vehicular access is not allowed for non-residents, who have to leave their car in Fionnphort. The island is small enough that one generally doesn't need a car. Bike hire is available at the pier, and on Mull.

Iona Nunnery survives as a series of exquisitely beautiful 12th-13th century ruins of the church and cloister, and a colourful and peaceful garden. Unlike the rest of the medieval religious buildings, the nunnery was too fragmentary to restore, though its remains are nevertheless the most complete survival of a medieval nunnery in Scotland.

Away from the historic buildings, Iona offers enjoyable walks to the north of the island, with pristine white sand beaches, and south and west to the Bay at the Back of the Atlantic.

Pebbles of the famous green Iona marble, commercially mined in the 19th century (the quarry and original machinery survive) can be found on the island's beaches.

Port Bhan beach on the west side of the island is home of the annual Iona Beach Party.

See also

• Clann-an-oistir

References

External links

• Isle of Iona, Scotland (produced on behalf of the Iona Community Council)
• The Iona Community
• Computer-generated virtual panorama Summit of Iona Index
• Official Iona Beach Party website

IONA (Islands of the North Atlantic) is an acronym suggested in 1980 by Sir John Biggs-Davison to refer to a loose linkage of the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, the Isle of Man and Channel Islands, similar to the present day British-Irish Council. Its intended purpose was as an alternative to British Isles, which is widely used, but is disliked by some people, mainly in Ireland.

It has been criticised on the grounds that it in fact excludes most of the islands in the North Atlantic, including Iceland, Greenland, the Faroe Islands, Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island, Cape Breton, and the Azores and also that the only island referred to by the term that is actually in the North Atlantic Ocean is The Republic of Ireland. The United Kingdom is in fact in between the Irish Sea and The North Sea. It has been used particularly in the context of the Northern Irish "peace process", during the negotiation of the Belfast Agreement, as a neutral name for the proposed council. One feature of this name is that IONA has the same spelling as the island of Iona which is off the coast of Scotland but with which Irish people have strong cultural associations. It is therefore a name with which people of both main islands might identify. Taoiseach Bertie Ahern noted the symbolism in a 2006 address in Edinburgh:

[The Island of] Iona is a powerful symbol of relationships between these islands, with its ethos of service not dominion. Iona also radiated out towards the Europe of the Dark Ages, not to mention Pagan England at Lindisfarne. The British-Irish Council is the expression of a relationship that at the origin of the Anglo-Irish process in 1981 was sometimes given the name Iona, islands of the North Atlantic, and sometimes Council of the Isles, with its evocation of the Lords of the Isles of the 14th and 15th centuries who spanned the North Channel. In the 17th century, Highland warriors and persecuted Presbyterian Ministers criss-crossed the North Channel.

In a Dáil Éireann debate, Proinsias De Rossa was less enthusiastic:

The acronym IONA is a useful way of addressing the coming together of these two islands. However, the island of Iona is probably a green heaven in that nobody lives on it and therefore it cannot be polluted in any way.

The term IONA has achieved almost no popular usage in any context.

References

See also

• British Isles (terminology)
• Political Correctness

External links

• The Good Friday Agreement
• British-Irish Council
• Project IONA