St Columba Our community’s Patron Saint, St Columba was born Thursday 7 December 521 in Ireland. He was baptised Colum, and as a boy, earned the name Columcille (“the Dove of the Church”) because he was frequently found in Church.
Columba studied Christianity from a young age and became a priest in 545, establishing his first church at Doire Cholm Chille, modern-day Londonderry. By the time that Columba was 25, he had founded 27 Irish monasteries.
In 563, Columba crossed the Irish Sea with twelve companions and landed on present day Iona. Columba sought permission from the Pictish king, Brude, to settle on Iona, which went on to become one of the most important centres of Christianity in this part of Britain.
Saint Columba died on 9 June 597 AD at the age of 75. 9 June is celebrated annually as Columba’s feast day.
Columba was a renowned literary figure and wrote several poems and hymns and has been credited with having transcribed over 300 books and manuscripts. It is highly probable that parts of the Book of Kells, the most extravagantly illustrated Insular Gospel, were written in Iona by Saint Columba. His skill as a scribe can be seen in the Cathach of Columba at the Irish Academy. This is the oldest existing Irish manuscript of the Psalter and is reputedly the Psalter that Saint Columba secretly copied. It was eventually enshrined in silver and bronze and venerated in churches.
