Saint Columba sometimes known as St. Columba of Iona (521 - 597), was the outstanding figure among the Gaelic missionary monks who reintroduced Christianity to Scotland during the Dark Ages.

He was born in Gartan, near Lough Gartan, Ireland and was of a royal descent. He became a monk and was ordained priest. Tradition asserts that, sometime around 560, he became involved in a dispute with Saint Finnian over a psalter. Columba copied the manuscript at the scriptorium under Saint Finnian, intending to keep the copy. Saint Finnian disputed his right to keep the copy. The dispute eventually led to the pitched Battle of Cúl Dreimhne in 561, during which many men were killed. As penance for these deaths, Columba suggested that he work as a missionary in Scotland to help convert as many people as had been killed in the battle. He exiled himself from Ireland and never again saw his native island. In 563 he was granted land on the island of Iona off the west coast of Scotland which became the centre of his evangelising mission to the Scotland. Aside from the services he provided guiding the only outpost of literacy in the region, his reputation as a holy man led to his role as a diplomat among the tribes; there are also many stories of miracles which he performed during his work to convert the Picts. 

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