The Monastery on Iona

The monks on Iona would have lived in individual beehive cells made of mud and wattle, and the church itself would have been made of wood. Other buildings would have included a refectory, guest house, barns, stables, mill, kiln, scriptorum, smithy, carpenter's shop and kitchen.

They wore tunics of undyed wool and were divided into three groups:

• The seniors conducted daily worship in the church, taught students and copied sacred manuscripts.
• The working brothers were the farmers, craftsmen and labourers.
• The juniors were novices undergoing training.

Iona was a place of hospitality for travellers, pilgrims and those who came seeking advice. Monk Adamnan's biography of Columba refers to travellers and gardeners, workhorses and waterpots, and to Bishops, peasants, poets and Priests who visited Iona.

Many of Iona's monks were away from the island, setting up churches and preaching the Gospel on the mainland, and as far as Europe. Not far from Iona is an island called, in Gaelic, "The Island of the Women", and the legend is that Columba would allow no women - or female cattle - on Iona.

From the beginning of the ninth century, the monastery on Iona was plundered and sacked by Viking raids. The majority of the monks moved to safety in Ireland, probably taking with them Columba's bones and possibly an illuminated manuscript now known as the Book of Kells.

Columba's bones were taken briefly back to Iona, but after another Norse raid, they were taken again to Ireland. Between the seventh and eleventh centuries only a small number of Columban monks remained on Iona.