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.
Early life in Ireland
Ruins of Colmcille's Chapel at Gartan Lough
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...
