I Is Iona, the Holy Isle

#9 in the April 2014 A to Z Blog Challenge

I: Iogh, Yew in the Scottish Gaelic alphabet.

Because I am going to write another post for this challenge using the letter I, I’ll write about yew in that one.


Iona, the Holy Isle, is ancient in so many ways! One of the isles of the Inner Hebrides, off the west coast of Scotland, its stones have been dated to over 1500 million years old. 

Iona Stone

In that long history, it has had many names, including “the isle of the Druids,” and some believe that it was the capitol of that religion, and that it was succeeded by a group of Culdees, the Céli Dé (in Scottish Gaelic, Kelidei, meaning “Companions/ children of God”—although some say that they came much later to the island. Apparently they were a Gnostic group who believed in mediation, helped the poor and sick, and had an interest in liturgical music.

I was told many tales of the Hebrides by my grandmother, Abigail Jones Dangler, which she learned from her grandmother, Catriona MacNeill Ellison of the Isle of Barra, who handed down her devotion to Colmcille (pronounced with “k,” not “s” sounds), otherwise known as St. Columba, Apostle to the Picts and founder and first abbot of Iona’s Celtic Church.

Born a prince in Ireland in 521, raised to be a bard, as a youth he became a monk and later an abbot, founding several abbeys in Ireland before the infamous "first copyright battle." 

Monk Scribe Bas-Relief

He borrowed a book to copy it by hand from St. Finnian, returned the original and became angry when the other abbot demanded the copy as well. Their argument eventually was taken to the highest judge in Ireland to be judged. That worthy Brehon asked Colmcille what the books were made of. Parchment, of course, made from the hides of sheep or cattle. “Then let the calf stay with the cow,” he ruled. Fuming, Colmcille gave up his copy…and because he couldn’t let it go easily, before long both their clans were fighting over it in the terrible battle of Cuil Dremne. It’s said that 5,000 men were killed or maimed in that first copyright quarrel.

Horrified, Colmcille vowed to exile himself from Ireland until he saved that many souls in penance. With twelve monks who insisted on going with him, he set off in a currach to Scotland, wandered around having adventures (including an encounter with Nessie), and ultimately converted the pagan king of Alba, who gave him Iona, a small rocky island. Columba established a monastery there which became one of the most important religious sites in the Western world of the 6th century and for centuries afterwards. It’s said that the Book of Kells was written and illumined there, perhaps some pages by Colmcille himself. He worked as a missionary and diplomat among the clans, established other churches in the Hebrides, turned the monastery at Iona into a school for missionaries, and is said to have written several hymns and transcribed 300 books. That last alone is an amazing achievement! He died in 597, and came to be revered as one of the three great saints of Ireland with Patrick and Bridget.

It’s said that the Book of Kells was begun there, perhaps some pages written and illumined by Colmcille himself. He worked as a missionary and diplomat among the clans, established other churches in the Hebrides, turned the monastery at Iona into a school for missionaries, and is said to have written several hymns and transcribed 300 books. That last alone is an amazing achievement! He died in 597, revered as one of the three great saints of Ireland with Patrick and Bridget.

Iona was so famous that two hundred years later, having produced missionaries who went as far east as Kiev and probably did achieve his goal of converting so many souls, it was a prime target for the Vikings. As a result, his remains were divided between Scotland and Ireland in 849; by then, the monks had left and the buildings were falling into ruin.

Tombs of the Kings on Iona

Yet the fame and sanctity of the island was so great that many Irish, Scottish and even some Viking kings were buried there. It has been said that there was a Culdee community there for a while. (Yes, I know I wrote about them being there earlier, but there’s some controversy about when).

Iona Abby Buildings

Iona is still a place of retreat and meditation; the IonaCommunity holds many events there today, and ferries often combine trips to it with Staffa, famous for Fingal’s Cave and unusual eight-sided basalt stones. 

Capital Letter B, Detail, Book of Kells

Here are the words of one of his prayers; Linda and I do it to a Manx tune, “Colmcille’s Vow”:

God’s peace, and man’s peace
God’s peace and Colmcille’s,
On each window and each door,
On every space admitting moonlight,
On the four corners of the house,
On the place of rest,
And God’s peace on myself

      And God’s peace be on you.

Beehive Monk's Cell, Iona

G Is for Giants & Gruagachs!

#7 in the April 2014 A to Z Blog Challenge

G: Gort, Ivy in the Scottish Gaelic alphabet.

Ivy is a parasitic evergreen vine, much esteemed in tree lore. It symbolizes eternity as well as mortality (being found in graveyards), and emblematic of fidelity, which is why brides carry it in their bouquets. The Druids bound it around their brows for clarity of thought; perhaps this traveled back to Greece, where it was used by Dionysus’ followers in the hope of guarding against ill effects from drinking.

Some Celts, especially in Ireland, used it at Samhain (Hallowe’en) for both love and death divination. In herbal lore, the boiled leaves were used in poultices for skin infections; to remove sunburn, the boiled twigs would be swirled through butter and applied to the skin. When an ivy plant grows to sufficient age, its foot-thick stem is woody, and may be sliced to use as a filter with wine. Cows won’t eat it, but sheep and deer will in winter, and many birds nest in it and eat the berries in late winter/early spring. Unlike most plants, it blossoms in late fall.

I was always skeptical about the Giant in “Jack & the Beanstalk,” but thought as a child that perhaps the English had very thick clouds able to sustain his weight! I much preferred the Celtic tales about giants and gruagachean from Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Cornwall and Britanny. 

Giants are not usually shapeshifters, but very, very large, often cruel, often stupid. They loved to throw around huge, heavy stones, and were constantly, ineptly, attempting to build walls and buildings but failing and giving up, hence a lot of monolithic stones, henges, etc., scattered around the isles. 

There are exceptions, of course; I think I was 7 or 8 when Granny told me what became one of my favorite Christmas stories about the giant family of Staffa. They may have originally been Irish and crossed the Giant’s Causeway made by Finn McCool to find a peaceful place to live, settled on Staffa, and used the famous cave as their front door. One stormy winter night, they hear a cry from the sea, and the father giant is just in time, wading out into the sea, to save a young monk from drowning. He is quite surprised when he awakens in their baby son’s cradle! He’d been fishing in a wee currach, was caught by the storm, and now cannot return. As he recovers, he tells them about his life as a monk and Bible stories. The longer he stays, the sadder he becomes, until the giant’s wife persuades him to tell them why. That night was Christmas Eve, and he laments that he cannot spend it with his brothers on Iona, the Holy Isle. The family decides to take him, riding on the giant’s shoulders, the baby in his mother’s arms, wading through the sea to the isle. When they arrive, St. Colmcille [pronounced Kolum-kill, in English Columba] meets them. After thanking them for their care of his young brother, he’s so kind they tell him they wish to be baptized and live there.

After receiving testimonies to their goodness from the birds of the air, the fish of the sea and the seals, he tells them that if they can get through the door of the church, they will be welcomed. Easy to push the baby through; the wife has to kneel and squeeze through; her husband has to like down and inch through. On the other side, they are simply very tall humans, able to worship and join the community.

Gruagach stone on Colonsay

Are you wondering what a gruagach (plural: gruachean) is/are? Accounts differ! The word means “hair” and was often applied to a young lass, because their hair wasn’t covered until after marriage. Some accounts say that they were a sort of female brownie, particularly caring for herds of cattle and dairies; the herdsmen and dairymaids would pour milk into hollowed stones for them every night after milking. These stones, although not much is known about them, are of great antiquity, perhaps being part of Stone Age rites. Some scholars believe that gruachean were remnants of an ancient, mostly forgotten, goddess cult. Certainly some kinds of faery were originally gods, later entering lore as lesser but still powerful entities after Christianity replaced the Old Ones’ worship in Celtic lands. 

In the Irish Finn McCool legends, the gruachean he encounters are usually very hairy, gigantic hags. Under various names, they are linked with cattle, with worship and with  fertility from Breton lands to Wales to the Hebrides. Sometimes the terms gruagach, glaistig and gro’ach are used almost interchangeably. 

One glaistig (or gruagach) was angered by a herdsman who poured boiling milk onto her stone; cursing from her burned mouth, she determined to leave that place. Placing one foot on a crag, and the other on an island, she grazed her thigh on the top of a sailing ship’s mast, and fell into the water, where she drowned and was greatly mourned by the people.

May your love of these immortal Celtic tales become gigantic!