I set off on Tuesday morning at around nine. I hoped to hike the entirety of Iona in my first three days and set off to do the north half first. Despite the small size of Iona, the island has a varied landscape that was significant to the life of the monks in the medieval monastery. I tackled what I thought would be the hardest challenge first (turns out I was wrong) and set off to climb Dùn Ì, the tallest peak of Iona.
Passing the abbey and turning off the main road I started my climb. It took me around 15 minutes to reach the crowded summit. I had had one key expectation when I reached the top. It goes back to the name of this project, the article by Thomas O’Loughlin which claimed that from the top of the Dùn the curvature of the earth could be seen as one looked out on the Atlantic. I could not see it, perhaps the curvature is just a bit too slight. The point that O’Loughlin was making still stands however: that the peripheral place of Iona, one felt and thought of by the monks, can be greatly appreciated when one looks out at that vast expanding ocean.
Dùn Ì does feature in the Life of Columba as well (§ii.4). St Columba, sitting atop the hill, sees a cloud rise out of the ocean and predicts that the rain will carry disease and harm to those living on the east coast of Ireland near Dublin. Today (Thursday), watching the vast storm clouds carried over top of me with powerful northerly winds, heading towards Ireland, I could relate to how those clouds could place some fear in your mind (though for me it was damp clothes, not pustules and cattle disease…).
Descending Dùn Ì, I walked around the north coast, taking in some of the famous white-sand beaches of Iona. I followed the hoof prints of some cattle who I discovered in the tidescape resting on the dunes and snacking on some seaweed. It was a bright clear day. As I rounded the north of the island I found a hive of some ground-nesting bees, who had burrowed into one of the final dunes on the north-shore. I then turned south to follow the west coast, which turned out to be far more challenging than Dùn Ì…
An Eye on the Sail 