Columcille of Ireland

Have you ever heard of Columcille of Ireland?

Watch and listen to this story about a very important person who was born in Ireland and loved learning and books.

Use the audio player to listen to a reading of the story.

The day was clear and the sun was shining the morning Columcille was born. His mother rejoiced, for while Columcille’s birth had brought with it the light of day, times were hard and darkness fell over the land. Columcille was born the son of a king in a corner of Ireland that had been worn and battered by the rough ocean winds.

People of those times had forgotten the beauty of days past and lived only to do battle. They fought for the simplest of things: a crust of bread, a slab of earth. This was a time when people forgot to read and write. Words no longer had any value and ignorance cast a shadow over people’s minds. Few people knew, or cared, about learning and much of the joy that came from the stories of their fathers was lost. Books were destroyed and those who knew their secrets were rare.

Columcille was one of them. It was said that when Columcille was a young lad he was fed a cake filled with the letters of the alphabet. In this way, words became part of his very soul. It was true that as Columcille grew in this time of darkness, his love of learning burned within him, as bright as all the stars in the heavens combined.

When the time came for Columcille to choose his path, he turned away from the riches of princedom, and instead became a monk. Here he was free to devote tireless hours to copying books of old. He hid his labors to save the world from losing their stories forever.

Celtic lettering designs One night, as he sat in the cold, damp tower of his monastery writing by the soft light of a single candle, he came upon an ancient book of psalms. He began copying it, though he was ordered not to. The man who owned the book wanted its contents for himself.

When the copy was finished, it was so glorious that a great battle was waged over who had the rights to own it. Columcille was deeply saddened. His works were meant to bring peace, beauty, and healing to a dark and frightened world. He had never intended his writings to be part of the wars that tore apart his lands.

Columcille was ashamed. He and his closest friends built a small boat and covered it with leather. In this vessel, they set sail over stormy and blackened waters. The waves tossed and threatened them, but they held fast to their hope of bringing the light of language to the world.

At last, Columcille landed on a small island. They built a small community there and together began their life’s work of writing. Every day was devoted to keeping learning alive. Columcille and his followers copied thousands of books and sent them over the seas to lands where people waited anxiously for them. In this way, the stories of our fathers were preserved, saved by a man who cared more for words than wealth.