Iona: the Earliest Poetry of a Celtic Monastery

This volume is a collection of translations of eight beautiful poems written in Iona within 150 years of its foundation. Five originally written in latin and three in Old Irish, these poems illuminate the early life of the Iona monastery and Celtic Christianity in general. Along with an introductory chapter giving the background to Iona’s history and literature, a literary and theological commentary demonstrates the thought-world of the poems and sheds new light on Iona’s intellectual and spiritual life. In-depth details of early monastic life are offered in two supplementary chapters: the first is a tract on living the religious life by a pupil of St. Columba’s; the second a tentative list of the contents of Iona’s library, revealing that Iona’s monks were deeply involved with mainstream. Continental church thinking and writing. This poetry collection should be useful reading for all those interested in Iona and the early church in Scotland.