Columba () or Colmcille (7 December 521 – 9 June 597 AD) was an Irish abbot and missionary credited with spreading Christianity at the start of the Hiberno-Scottish mission in what became Scotland. He founded the important abbey on Iona, which became a dominant religious and political institution in the region for centuries. He is the patron saint of Derry and one of the patron saints of Ireland along with Patrick and Brigid. He was venerated by both the Gaels of Dál Riata and the Picts, and is remembered as one of the Twelve Apostles of Ireland.
Columba was born in Tyrconnell, studied under some of Ireland's most prominent church figures and founded several monasteries in the country. Around 563 AD he and his twelve companions crossed to Kintyre before settling on the island of Iona in the Hebrides, part of the Gaelic kingdom of Dál Riata. They founded Iona Abbey, which became a base for spreading Christianity among the pagan northern Pictish kingdoms. He remained active in Irish politics, though he spent most of the remainder of his life in what became Scotland. Three surviving early-medieval Latin hymns are attributed to him.
Columba was born to Fedlimid and Eithne of the Cenél Conaill in Gartan, a district beside Lough Gartan, in Tír Chonaill (mainly modern County Donegal, Ireland).
On his father's side, he is claimed as being the great-great-grandson of Niall of the Nine Hostages, a pseudo-historical Irish high king of the 5th century. One tradition holds that he was born on a flagstone called Leac na Cumha in the townland of Lacknacoo. He was baptised in Temple-Douglas, in the County Donegal parish of Conwal (midway between Gartan and Letterkenny), by his teacher and foster-uncle Cruithnechán.
Columba lived in the remote district of what is now Glencolmcille (which was named after him) for roughly five years. It is not known for sure if his name at birth was Colmcille or if he adopted this name later in life; Adomnán (Eunan) of Iona thought it was his birth name but other Irish sources have claimed his name at birth was Crimthann (meaning 'fox'). In the Irish language his name means 'dove', which is the same name as the Prophet Jonah (Jonah in Hebrew is also 'dove'), which Adomnán of Iona, as well as other early Irish writers, were aware of, although it is not clear if he was deliberately named after Jonah or not. Columba is also Latin for dove, and the name of the bird genus.
When sufficiently advanced in letters he entered the monastic school of Movilla, at Newtownards, under Finnian of Movilla who had studied at Ninian's "Magnum Monasterium" on the shores of Galloway. He 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. Here he imbibed the traditions of the Welsh Church, for Finnian had been trained in the schools of David.
The study of Latin learning and Christian theology in monasteries flourished. Columba became a pupil at the monastic school at Clonard Abbey, situated on the River Boyne in modern County Meath. During the sixth century, some of the most significant names in the history of Insular Christianity studied at the Clonard monastery. The average number of scholars under instruction at Clonard was said to be 300. Columba was one of twelve students of Finnian of Clonard who became known as the Twelve Apostles of Ireland. He became a monk and eventually was ordained a priest.
Another preceptor of Columba was Mobhí Clárainech, whose monastery at Glasnevin was frequented by such famous men as Cainnech of Aghaboe, Comgall, and Ciarán. A pestilence which devastated Ireland in 544 caused the dispersion of Mobhi's disciples, and Columba returned to Ulster, the land of his kindred.
The foundation of several important monasteries marked the following years: Derry, at the southern edge of Inishowen; Durrow, County Offaly; Kells, County Meath; and Swords, County Dublin. While at Derry it is said that he planned a pilgrimage to Rome and Jerusalem, but did not proceed farther than Tours. From Tours, he brought a copy of those gospels that had lain on the bosom of Martin for 100 years. This relic was deposited in Derry. St Colmcille is also believed to have established a Church on Inishkea North, County Mayo which is named St Colmcille's Church. Another monastery was established by St Colmcille at Carrickmore, County Tyrone. The church of St Colmcille stands within the Parish of Termonmaguirc on Rockstown Road in Carrickmore.
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. Finnian disputed his right to keep it. There is a suggestion that this conflict resulted in the Battle of Cúl Dreimhne in Cairbre Drom Cliabh (now in County Sligo) in 561, during which many men were killed. Richard Sharpe, translator of Adomnán's Life of St. Columba (referenced in the bibliography below) makes a stern caution at this point against accepting the many references that link the battle and Columba's leaving of Ireland, even though there is evidence in the annals that Columba supported his own king against the high king. Political conflicts that had existed for some time resulted in the clan Neill's battle against King Diarmait at Cooldrevny in 561. An issue, for example, was the king's violation of the right of sanctuary belonging to Columba's person as a monk on the occasion of the murder of Prince Curnan, Columba's kinsman.
Prince Curnan of Connacht, who had fatally injured a rival in a hurling match and had taken refuge with Columba, was dragged from his protector's arms and slain by Diarmaid's men, in defiance of the rights of sanctuary.
A synod of clerics and scholars threatened to excommunicate him for these deaths, but Brendan of Birr spoke on his behalf. Eventually, the process was deemed a miscarriage of justice. Columba's own conscience was uneasy, and on the advice of an aged hermit, Molaise, he resolved to expiate his sense of offence by departing Ireland. The term "exile" is used in some references. This, too, can be disputed, for the term "pilgrimage" is used more frequently in the literature about him. A marker at Stroove Beach on the Inishowen Peninsula commemorates the place where Columba set sail for Scotland. He left Ireland, but through the following years, he returned several times to visit the communities he had founded there.
Columba's copy of the psalter has been traditionally associated with the Cathach of St. Columba. In 574/575, during his return for the Synod of Drum Ceat, he founded the monastery of Drumcliff in Cairbre, now County Sligo.
In 563, he travelled to Scotland with twelve companions (said to include Odran of Iona) in a wicker currach covered with leather. According to legend he first landed on the Kintyre Peninsula, near Southend. However, being still in sight of Ulster, he moved farther north up the west coast of Scotland. The island of Iona was made over to him by his kinsman Conall mac Comgaill King of Dál Riata, who perhaps had invited him to come to Scotland in the first place. However, there is a sense in which he was not leaving his native people, as the Ulster Gaels had been inhabiting the west coast of Scotland for the previous couple of centuries. Aside from the services he provided guiding the only centre of literacy in the region, his reputation as a holy man led to his role as a diplomat among the tribes.
He visited the pagan King Bridei, King of Fortriu, at his base in Inverness, winning Bridei's respect, although not his conversion. He subsequently played a major role in the politics of the country. Adomnán wrote that Columba communicated with the Picts through an unnamed interpreter.
There are also many stories of miracles which he performed during his work to convert the Picts, the most famous being his encounter with an unidentified animal that some have equated with the Loch Ness Monster in 565. It is said that he banished a ferocious "water beast" to the depths of the River Ness after it had killed a Pict and then tried to attack Columba's disciple, Lugne (see Vita Columbae Book 2 below).