Who was St Columba? How did this Irish aristocrat become the most
important figure in early Scottish Christianity?
This book examines the different roles played by the saint in life and
death, tracing his career in Ireland and Scotland, where we encounter
not only Columba the abbot and missionary but also Columba the
politician and peacemaker. We see him at the centre of a major
controversy which led to his excommunication by an Irish synod. We
follow him then to Scotland, to Iona, where he founded his principal
monastery. It was from this small Hebridean isle that he undertook
missionary work among the Picts and had dealings with powerful
warrior-kings. It was from Iona, too, that his cult was vigorously
promoted after his death in 597, most famously by Abbot Adomnan, whose
writings provide our main source of information on Columba's career. The
final chapters of the book look at the evolution of the cult of Columba
from the seventh century onwards.