Iona Abbey is an abbey located on the island of Iona, just off the Isle of Mull on the West Coast of Scotland.
It is one of the oldest Christian religious centres in Western Europe. The abbey was a focal point for the spread of Christianity throughout Scotland and marks the foundation of a monastic community by St. Columba, when Iona was part of the Kingdom of Dál Riata. Saint Aidan served as a monk at Iona, before helping to reestablish Christianity in Northumberland, on the island of Lindisfarne.
In the 12th century, the Macdonald lords of Clan Donald made Iona the ecclesiastical capital of the Royal Family of Macdonald, and subsequent Lords of the Isles into the early 16th century endowed and maintained the abbey, church and nunnery. Two of the Macdonalds (each named Angus) became Bishops of the Isles with the bishop's seat at Iona. St. Oran's chapel was the burial place for the Lords as evidenced by their grave slabs.[1]
From 1207 to 1493, the early Clan Donald and its Lords of the Isles were entirely central to Iona abbey’s medieval existence, development and prestige. This enduring Macdonald phase equals the 300 year period of primary Columban monasticism. It is paramount in providing the sole witness to Iona’s extant architecture and is a principal witness to the surviving monuments.
The Iona Abbey church was in all but name The Macdonald’s Cathedral of The Isles. Medieval Iona Abbey, as you see it today (restored in the 20th century) is largely the legacy of the 15th century Clan Donald Lords of the Isles and their Clan Donald Abbots and Bishops.
Today, Iona Abbey is the spiritual home of the Iona Community, an ecumenical Christian religious order, whose headquarters are in Glasgow. The Abbey remains a popular site of Christian pilgrimage today.[2]
^Clan Donald and Iona Abbey 1200-1500 by Ian Ross Macdonnell, 2012.
^Holly Hayes (2005). Iona Abbey - Iona, Scotland. Sacred Destinations. Iona Abbey was the home of St. Columba, whose missionary work in the 6th century brought Celtic Christianity to Scotland. Now home to the ecumenical Iona Community, it remains a place of Christian pilgrimage.
IonaAbbey is an abbey located on the island of Iona, just off the Isle of Mull on the West Coast of Scotland. It is one of the oldest Christian religious...
coast of Scotland. It is mainly known for IonaAbbey, though there are other buildings on the island. IonaAbbey was a centre of Gaelic monasticism for three...
men to Iona to rebuild the ruined medieval IonaAbbey together. The community which grew out of this was initially under the supervision of an Iona Community...
assembly of the hull. At the ceremony, a bronze coin from IonaAbbey and a piece of green marble from Iona was laid under a keel block that measured 21.5 metres...
Riata or Western Scotland and founded IonaAbbey in 563. In the late 9th century many of the Columban relics of Iona during the Viking raids went to Dunkeld...
The martyrs of Iona were a group of 68 Celtic Christian monks who lived at IonaAbbey (on the island of Iona, Scotland) and were massacred there in the...
Kenneth relocated relics, including the Stone of Scone from an abandoned abbey on Iona, to his new domain. Kenneth I is traditionally considered the founder...
the start of the Hiberno-Scottish mission. He founded the important abbey on Iona, which became a dominant religious and political institution in the...
The Abbot of Iona was the head of IonaAbbey during the Middle Ages and the leader of the monastic community of Iona, as well as the overlord of scores...
March 2015. Retrieved 26 March 2015. Westminster Abbey Website (accessed 30 April 2015) Westminster Abbey Website (accessed 30 April 2015) Burns, John F...
Donald was first buried at Dunfermline Abbey or Dunkeld Cathedral, but agree that his remains were later moved to Iona. Donald left one known child, a daughter...
Columba, the founder of IonaAbbey, written a century after Columba's death by Adomnán, one of his successors as Abbot of Iona. Adomnán (also known as...
layout of the abbey and that of the original church of the cathedral priory at Downpatrick suggests that the Benedictine foundation on Iona was related...
Hiberno-Saxon illustrated manuscripts). The Abbey of Kells in Kells, County Meath had been founded, or refounded, from IonaAbbey, construction taking from 807 until...
thought to have been buried at Elgin before later relocation to the island of Iona. The 14th-century chronicler John of Fordun would write that Duncan's wife...
Iona, the building taking from 807 until the consecration of the church in 814. The site was a former Irish hill fort. In 814, Cellach, Abbot of Iona...
Chronicle, or at Dunnottar following The Prophecy of Berchán. He was buried on Iona. Some versions of the Chronicle, and the Chronicle of Melrose, are read as...
Leonards Nunnery located at Perth being the other. In the Abbey museum of the nearby IonaAbbey, the top half of a headstone of Anna MacLean, a prioress...
that the first seven chiefs of Clan MacLeod were buried at Iona. The choir of IonaAbbey, for the most part, dates from the early 16th century. Within...
at Lindisfarne was sacked. IonaAbbey was also repeatedly attacked by Vikings: In 802, the Annals of Ulster note that "Iona was burned by the heathens"...
is called king of Alba, rather than king of the Picts. He was buried on Iona. Like his father, Constantine, he died a violent death at a premature age...
for Neolithic and Bronze Age remains in mainland Scotland. In 563 AD IonaAbbey was founded, becoming one of the most important early Christian sites...
Died (1034-11-25)25 November 1034 (aged 79/80) Glamis Castle, Scotland Burial Iona Issue Bethóc Donada Olith House Alpin Father Kenneth II of Scotland...
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