34 Facts About Columba

Columba or Colmcille was an Irish abbot and missionary evangelist credited with spreading Christianity in what is today Scotland at the start of the Hiberno-Scottish mission.

Columba founded the important abbey on Iona, which became a dominant religious and political institution in the region for centuries.

Columba was highly regarded by both the Gaels of Dal Riata and the Picts, and is remembered today as a Catholic saint and one of the Twelve Apostles of Ireland.

Columba studied under some of Ireland's most prominent church figures and founded several monasteries in the country.

Columba remained active in Irish politics, though he spent most of the remainder of his life in Scotland.

Columba was born to Fedlimid and Eithne of the Cenel Conaill in Gartan, a district beside Lough Gartan, in Tir Chonaill in the north of Ireland.

Columba was baptised in Temple-Douglas, in the County Donegal parish of Conwal, by his teacher and foster-uncle Cruithnechan.

Columba lived in the small village of Glencolmcille for roughly 5 years, which was named after him.

Columba was about twenty, and a deacon when, having completed his training at Movilla, he travelled southwards into Leinster, where he became a pupil of an aged bard named Gemman.

On leaving him, Columba entered the monastery of Clonard, governed at that time by Finnian, noted for sanctity and learning.

Columba became a pupil at the monastic school at Clonard Abbey, situated on the River Boyne in modern County Meath.

Columba was one of twelve students of Finnian of Clonard who became known as the Twelve Apostles of Ireland.

Columba became a monk and eventually was ordained a priest.

Columba was a striking figure of great stature and powerful build, with a loud, melodious voice which could be heard from one hilltop to another.

Some traditions assert that sometime around 560 Columba became involved in a quarrel with Finnian of Moville of Movilla Abbey over a psalter.

Columba copied the manuscript at the scriptorium under Finnian, intending to keep the copy.

Columba left Ireland, but through the following years, he returned several times in relationships with the communities he had founded there.

Columba visited the pagan King Bridei, King of Fortriu, at his base in Inverness, winning Bridei's respect, although not his conversion.

Columba subsequently played a major role in the politics of the country.

Columba was very energetic in his work as a missionary, and, in addition to founding several churches in the Hebrides, he worked to turn his monastery at Iona into a school for missionaries.

Columba was a renowned man of letters, having written several hymns and being credited with having transcribed 300 books.

Columba's relics were finally removed in 849 and divided between Scotland and Ireland.

St Columba's National School in Drumcondra is a girls' school named after the saint.

Columba is credited as being a leading figure in the revitalisation of monasticism.

Sir Iain Moncreiffe of that Ilk speculated that Clan MacKinnon belonged to the kindred of Saint Columba, noting the MacKinnon Arms bore the hand of the saint holding the Cross, and the several Mackinnon abbots of Iona.

The cathedral of the Catholic Diocese of Argyll and the Isles is placed under the patronage of Saint Columba, as are numerous Catholic schools and parishes throughout the nation.

Columba currently has two poems attributed to him: "Adiutor Laborantium" and "Altus Prosator".

Columba is the patron saint of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Youngstown, Ohio.

Iona University, a small Catholic liberal arts college whose main campus is located in New Rochelle, New York, is named after the island on which Columba established his first monastery in Scotland, as is Iona College in Windsor, Ontario, Iona Presentation College, Perth, and Iona College Geelong in Charlemont, Victoria.

Whereas Adomnan just tells us that Columba visited Bridei, Bede relates a later, perhaps Pictish tradition, whereby Columba actually converts the Pictish king.

Columba is historically revered as a warrior saint and was often invoked for victory in battle.

Relics of Columba were carried before Scottish armies in the reliquary made at Iona in the mid-8th century, called the Brecbennoch.

Legend has it that the Brecbennoch was carried to the Battle of Bannockburn by the vastly outnumbered Scots army and the intercession of Columba helped them to victory.

Since the 19th century the "Brecbennoch of St Columba" has been identified with the Monymusk Reliquary, although this is doubted by scholars.