Columcille - A Saint In Name Only

It is somewhat, you might even say entirely, hypocritical of the Catholic Church to bestow the title of Saint upon an individual whose selfishness and vanity caused hundreds of deaths. The individual in question is Saint Columcille who was born in December 521 at Gartan in present day county Donegal. Columcille is actually a nickname and ironically it translates as 'dove'. In light of the crimes he would later commit his real name, Criomhthann meaning 'cunning fox', would have been a more appropraite title. Clearly this name, as far as his apologists were concerned, was less suitable than one that translates as the traditional symbol of peace.

The son of Irish nobility Columcille enjoyed a priviledged upbringing and at a young age was sent to Saint Finnian's monestry at Moville on Strangford Lough to study for the priesthood. Here he became knowlegable in a wide field of religious and theological topics and also acquired a great skill for copying illuminated manuscripts. He was praised by his peers and elders for his scholarly abilities and continued his studies at Glasnevin close to Dublin. Shortly afterwards at the age of just 25 Columcille established his first monestry at Derry and there is evidence to suggest that he also founded monestries at Durrow, Kells and elsewhere. It is likely that Columcille's aristocratic unpbringing, scholarly acclaim and his role in setting up several religious houses at a young age all contributed to boosting his considerable ego, a theory that is vindicated by what happened next.

Returning to Moville in 561 Columcille began to secretly copy the beautifully illustrated Saint Martin's Gospel that had been held by the monestry since it had been brought there from Whithorn Abbey in Galloway in Scotland. When his nocturnal copying was discovered by his old friend Saint Finnian Columcille refused to hand over the copy and the dispute came to the attention of the Irish High King Diarmaid. The king judged that Columcille's copy was to stay with the monks at Moville. Furious, Columcille was determined to get revenge over the king for his public humiliation, and demanded that his followers take to arms to force a reversal of the decision. The Battle of Cul Dreimhne at modern day Cooldreny in county Sligo was the bloody result. Thousands died because of Columcille's vain, selfish and un-Christian impulsiveness.

A sulking Columcille journeyed to Saint Molaise's Lough Erne retreat to decide his next move and the ageing holy man decreed that he should into permanent exile. Deeply embittered by this second humiliation Columcille vowed that he would never lay eyes upon Ireland or set foot upon the island ever again. How he hoped to redeem himself in the eye's of God by doing so is uncertain. Again it is typical of the man's egocentric nature. It can hardly be construed as a penance because to perform a meaningful act of atonement surely Columcille would have stayed to make amends in Irleand.

With a gang of followers Columcille sailed across to Scotland and arrived on the island of Hii which would later be known as Iona. He spent his remaining years wandering around Scotland baptising people and founding other religious centres. When he made a final visit to Ireland he journeyed blindfolded and with two clods of Scottish turf tied to his feet in keeping with his vow. One really has to question his sanity in light of this. He died aged 76 in June 597. Pro-Columcille propaganda began almost immediately when his right hand man Adhamhnan wrote his predecessor's 'Life', a biography so self-serving and full of bizarre and unreal miracles and supernatural feats attributed to Columcille that one would think it was written by Columcille himself. One farcical tale has Columcille save a man from the clutches of the Loch Ness Monster!
There was little saintly about Columcille. His work in Ireland and Scotland to strengthen the power of the early church is the reason he was made a saint. Overlooked was the fact that he was a thief, a war monger and ridden with a vain pride that bordered on insanity. Once again the Catholic church venerates an individual for furthering it's power rather than living by Christ's teachings.