The Myth of Iona
The island of lona became the centre of Celtic Christianity in Scotland with the arrival of St. Columba in 563. Yet the monuments remaining there, argues Ruth Hildebrandt, are representative of another age and do not reflect the beliefs or practices of the Columban church.
The Celts are traditionally associated with migration. Just as they formed part of the vanguard of settlers in the New World as two articles in this magazine demonstrate so they were also one of the first races to populate the Old. In Europe they predominated especially in Brittany, Ireland, Wales and the west coast of Scotland: in other words on the Atlantic fringe, from which they were admirably placed to lead the great westward migration hundreds of years later. They were also well placed in the fifth and sixth centuries to lead the conversion of much of the British Isles to Christianity.
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