Staffa and Iona, Inner Hebrides, Scotland
Today we had the special privilege of being able to visit the islands of Staffa and Iona. Staffa is the site of Fingal’s cave which inspired Felix Mendelsohn as he composed The Hebrides Overture of 1829. The cave has been cut by wave action working on a basaltic lava flow which exhibits one of the world’s finest examples of columnar jointing. As the basalt cooled the lava contracted and cracked into columns, usually hexagonal in cross section, and which extend the full thickness of the lava flow. We cruised by Zodiac around the island and delighted in the hundreds of puffins standing outside their nesting burrows on the cliffs and resting on the water. During lunch we sailed south to Iona.
Iona emerged out of the mist and cloud in a brilliant sunshine. This small rocky isle has been called the Cradle of Christianity in the British Isles. Colum brought Christianity here in 563. He is widely know by his Latin name Columba, the dove. Columba was a direct descendant of the important Irish king Niall Noigiallach, the hereditary leader of the Northern Ui Neill family who ruled lands that became Counties Donegal and Tyrone. We know very little of his life. His earliest and most reliable biographer is Adomnan, the 9th Abbot of the monastery of Iona who wrote a life of Columba a century after his death in 697. Columba left Ireland in 563 and sought to spread the gospel amongst the Picts of Argyle. He was given the island of Iona by King Bridei, ruler of the Picts. The power of Columba’s person and his reputation for sanctity fast made Iona a place of pilgrimage. Monks went out from Iona to start monasteries in Ireland and northern England. One of the most famous settlements was the monastery of Lindisfarne in Northumberland. Today there is a non-denominational group that spends time at the old Benedictine monastery working for peace and justice.
Today we had the special privilege of being able to visit the islands of Staffa and Iona. Staffa is the site of Fingal’s cave which inspired Felix Mendelsohn as he composed The Hebrides Overture of 1829. The cave has been cut by wave action working on a basaltic lava flow which exhibits one of the world’s finest examples of columnar jointing. As the basalt cooled the lava contracted and cracked into columns, usually hexagonal in cross section, and which extend the full thickness of the lava flow. We cruised by Zodiac around the island and delighted in the hundreds of puffins standing outside their nesting burrows on the cliffs and resting on the water. During lunch we sailed south to Iona.
Iona emerged out of the mist and cloud in a brilliant sunshine. This small rocky isle has been called the Cradle of Christianity in the British Isles. Colum brought Christianity here in 563. He is widely know by his Latin name Columba, the dove. Columba was a direct descendant of the important Irish king Niall Noigiallach, the hereditary leader of the Northern Ui Neill family who ruled lands that became Counties Donegal and Tyrone. We know very little of his life. His earliest and most reliable biographer is Adomnan, the 9th Abbot of the monastery of Iona who wrote a life of Columba a century after his death in 697. Columba left Ireland in 563 and sought to spread the gospel amongst the Picts of Argyle. He was given the island of Iona by King Bridei, ruler of the Picts. The power of Columba’s person and his reputation for sanctity fast made Iona a place of pilgrimage. Monks went out from Iona to start monasteries in Ireland and northern England. One of the most famous settlements was the monastery of Lindisfarne in Northumberland. Today there is a non-denominational group that spends time at the old Benedictine monastery working for peace and justice.
