The Irish church planter Columba was born on this day 1488 years ago in County Donegal. He became a student at the monastic school at Clonard Abbey, which was a major centre for learning during the sixth century. Clonard Abbey was founded by Finian in 520 AD, and the Twelve Apostles of Erin – of whom Columba became one – studied there.
Columba became involved in a quarrel with Finnian of Moville over ownership of a manuscript, and this led to a violent fight in which a number of men were killed. As a result, Columba was exiled from Ireland, and he moved to Scotland in 563 AD, settling on the island of Iona, off the west coast. This became the centre for his evangelism of the Picts, and Iona became the only centre of literacy in the region.
Columba planted a number of churches in western Scotland, and his monastery at Iona became a school for church planters. He was a scholar of some note, being the writer of numerous hymns and the transcriber of some 300 books. He is regarded as one of the leading figures in the Celtic church movement which brought a revival of Christianity to Western Europe after the fall of the Roman Empire. He died in 597 AD and was buried in the abbey he created on Iona.