Iona through the Ages

by Alan MacQuarrie

This book outlines the history of the Hebridean island of Iona from the time its settlement from Ireland in the fifth century AD to 1979 when it was sold by tenth duke of Argyll and then given to the Scottish nation by the Sir Hugh Fraser Foundation. Although it rightly concentrates on the time of Saint Columba and his successors it gives space to the less well-known story of the medieval monastery and the rivalry of Campbells and Macleans before and after the Reformation. It also draws particular attention to Roderick Maclean, a Maclean of the Kingairloch family, who was bishop of the Isles and commendator of Iona from 1544 to about 1553. His Latin poem ‘The prophetic Foreknowledge of the blessed Columba of Iona’ published in Rome in 1549 reveals considerable classical scholarship. It is perhaps the most extensive work of its kind to appear in the Western Isles at this period.

36 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1983