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| Church remains in Donegal |
Columcille (otherwise known as Columba) was born in Donegal Ireland in 521 AD, he was the great-grandson of a 5th century Irish King. Columcille was baptized in his local parish during a period of time where Christianity was sweeping across the country.
Columcille moved to Clonard Abbey to become a monk, where he studied with many others and he became known as one of the Twelve Apostles of Ireland. He was ordained as a priest and he went on to set up monasteries at Kells, Derry and Swords.
Later in his life, an argument over the rights to a copy of the Book of Psalms resulted in a battle in 561, confronted at a gathering of clerics he exiled himself from Ireland. From there he went with twelve companions to Scotland, eventually settling on the island of Iona off the west coast. From this base he attempted to convert pagans and Kings. He founded churches in Scotland and transcribed over 300 hundred books, he also wrote hymns and letters. Towards the end of his life, he decided to return to Ireland and founded a monastery at Durrow, where he later died at the age of 75.
The main source of information about Columcille is in books by Adomnan(d.704), the ninth abbot of Iona. These books contain details of his prophecies, his miracles that he performed and the apparitions that he saw during his life.
Some of his prophecies are quite distinct, foretelling the outcome of conflicts and so on, but others are short parables. The miracles include healing people, subduing wild beasts, control over weather and storms, fighting evil spirits, and even raising the dead. His actions to save a man from a river monster earned him fame, yet this is considered to be the source of the Loch Ness monster story, as he performed this miracle at the River Ness.
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