monastery
Iona
Iona, Inner Hebrides, United Kingdom (Scotland) · Britain & Ireland
56.334, -6.394
Attested. Attested by Adomnán, Bede and Irish annals.
Columba founded the monastery of Iona in 563 after leaving Ireland. It became the head of a network of monasteries and the base for missions to the Picts and Northumbria. Adomnán wrote Columba's Life here, and the Book of Kells was probably begun here.
Source stance: insider. Monastic hagiography and Bede.
People and groups named here
- Columba (Colum Cille)
- Adomnán
Sources
- Bede, Ecclesiastical History of the English People, Book III (Columba and Iona, Aidan and Lindisfarne)
tr. L. C. Jane (1903), public domain; Fordham Internet Medieval Sourcebook. Accessed 2026-11-11.
- St. Columba
Catholic Encyclopedia (1907-1912), public domain; New Advent. Accessed 2026-11-11.
- Iona Abbey (Wikipedia)
Wikipedia contributors. Accessed 2026-11-11.
Further reading
Councils here
None in this list.