Columba (/kəˈlʌmbəˌ ˈkɒlʌmbə/) or Colmcille[a] (7 December 521 – 9 June 597 AD) was an Irish abbot and missionary evangelist credited with spreading Christianity in what is today Scotland at the start of the Hiberno-Scottish mission.

He was highly regarded by both the Gaels of Dál Riata and the Picts, and is remembered today as a Catholic saint and one of the Twelve Apostles of Ireland.

On his father's side, he is claimed as being the great-great-grandson of Niall of the Nine Hostages, a pseudo-historical Irish high king of the 5th century.

[9] He was baptised in Temple-Douglas, in the County Donegal parish of Conwal (midway between Gartan and Letterkenny), by his teacher and foster-uncle Cruithnechán.

He was about twenty, and a deacon when, having completed his training at Movilla, he travelled southwards into Leinster, where he became a pupil of an aged bard named Gemman.

On leaving him, Columba entered the monastery of Clonard, governed at that time by Finnian, noted for sanctity and learning.

Columba became a pupil at the monastic school at Clonard Abbey, situated on the River Boyne in modern County Meath.

[15] Another preceptor of Columba was Mobhí Clárainech, whose monastery at Glasnevin was frequented by such famous men as Cainnech of Aghaboe, Comgall, and Ciarán.

A pestilence which devastated Ireland in 544 caused the dispersion of Mobhi's disciples, and Columba returned to Ulster, the land of his kindred.

There is a suggestion that this conflict resulted in the Battle of Cúl Dreimhne in Cairbre Drom Cliabh (now in County Sligo) in 561, during which many men were killed.

[14] Prince Curnan of Connacht, who had fatally injured a rival in a hurling match and had taken refuge with Columba, was dragged from his protector's arms and slain by Diarmaid's men, in defiance of the rights of sanctuary.

Columba's own conscience was uneasy, and on the advice of an aged hermit, Molaise, he resolved to expiate his sense of offence by departing Ireland.

A marker at Stroove Beach on the Inishowen Peninsula commemorates the place where Columba set sail for Scotland.

[22] In 563, he travelled to Scotland with twelve companions (said to include Odran of Iona) in a wicker currach covered with leather.

The island of Iona was made over to him by his kinsman Conall mac Comgaill King of Dál Riata, who perhaps had invited him to come to Scotland in the first place.

[16] However, there is a sense in which he was not leaving his native people, as the Ulster Gaels had been inhabiting the west coast of Scotland for the previous couple of centuries.

[23] Aside from the services he provided guiding the only centre of literacy in the region, his reputation as a holy man led to his role as a diplomat among the tribes.

[24] There are also many stories of miracles which he performed during his work to convert the Picts, the most famous being his encounter with an unidentified animal that some have equated with the Loch Ness Monster in 565.

According to traditional sources, Columba died in Iona on Sunday, 9 June 597, and was buried by his monks in the abbey he created.

[34] Aer Lingus, Ireland's national flag carrier has named one of its Airbus A330 aircraft in commemoration of the saint (reg: EI-DUO).

The Macdonald Lords of the Isles dealt with them, imprisoning one who was convicted of treachery since Iona was the spiritual seat of Clan Donald.

The content of the poem addresses God as a helper, ruler, guard, defender and lifter for those who are good and an enemy of sinners whom he will punish.

[63] Benjamin Britten composed A Hymn of St Columba for choir and organ in 1962, setting a poem by the saint, on the occasion of the 1,400th anniversary of his voyage to Iona.

Through the reputation of its venerable founder and its position as a major European centre of learning, Columba's Iona became a place of pilgrimage.

Relics of Columba were carried before Scottish armies in the reliquary made at Iona in the mid-8th century called the Brecbennoch.

Legend has it that the Brecbennoch was carried to the Battle of Bannockburn (24 June 1314) by the vastly outnumbered Scots army and the intercession of Columba helped them to victory.