June 9th is the feast day of St. Columba. This Irish priest and his 12 monk companions left Ireland in 563 AD and sailed their curragh to Scotland. Columba would do for Scotland what St. Patrick did for Ireland a century before.

In 2003, I was part of a re-enactment missionary voyage that followed the route of St. Columba from Ireland to the Scottish Isle of Iona where he founded his abbey. The man, Donald McCallum who organized the trip died in 2007. I have a blog that remembers the adventures I took with him. This link takes you to the Flickr account where I have photographs of the 2003 Voyage.

To you St. Columba!


Matt Newsome box pleat in the commemorative St. Columba tartan.