ID:QZP40_350_P257DESCRIPTION:Icolmkill is the Irish for Iona - island of Columba of the Church.
Iona has been at the heart of Scottish religious life since St Columba landed there in 563 AD. Iona has also been the burial place of successive Scottish kings until Macbeth in 1057.
In 1156 Somerled evicted the Norse from western Scotland and became the first Lord of the Isles. His son, Reginald MacDonald, decided that Iona should become a centre of Christianity in Europe, building a Columban Monastery and an Augustinian Nunnery.
After the Reformation the Abbey fell into disuse and ruin until 1874 when the 8th Duke of Argyll commissioned Robert Rowand Anderson to preserve the ruins. In 1899 ownership was passed to the Iona Cathedral Trust and restoration work began.
Rev George Macleod founded the Iona Community in 1938 and they set themselves the task of restoring the buildings to use. Today, the Abbey remains a working religious community with the Iona Community and Historic Scotland having the responsibility for the Abbey buildings and precincts.
This illustration was taken from T. Garnett's 'Observations on a tour through the Highlands'PLACENAME:IonaDISTRICT:MullOLD COUNTY/PARISH:ARGYLL: Kilfinchen and KilvickeonDATE OF IMAGE:1800PERIOD:1800sSOURCE:Highland LibrariesCOLLECTION:Fraser Mackintosh Collection (illustrations)Asset ID:31120KEYWORDS:
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