Kilmartin House Museum is housed in the former manse of Kilmartin Church at the centre of Kilmartin village.
Kilmartin Glen has an extraordinarily rich collection of 350 ancient monuments, all found within a six-mile radius of the museum. The area has a strong early Christian history and is closely connected to the story of Colmcille.
The museum explores the archaeology, landscape and history of the glen. Inside you can see artefacts excavated at nearby Dunadd, the principal fort of the Dál Riata. Colmcille is said to have visited the king when he first arrived in Scotland in 563.
Artefacts discovered in Kilmartin and the surrounding area are on display here in at the museum. Other collections from Kilmartin are kept at the Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh, Glasgow Museums and the British Museum in London.
In the 6th century Dunadd was the power base and main fort of the local rulers – the Dál Riata.
This rocky outcrop stands high on the Moine Mhor Great Moss with the River Add weaving around its base.
Colmcille is thought to have visited the king of the Dál Riata at Dunadd when he first arrived in Argyll.
Visit the rocky outcrop where the Dál Riata had their fort. Discover the footprints carved in stone which were part of a Dál Riata royal ritual dating back to the 5th century.
Not long after he arrived in Argyll, Colmcille is said to have visited king Conall, ruler of the Dál Riata, at his main settlement.
Dunadd was Conall’s chief fort and power base so Colmcille is likely to have come here.
The Dál Riata had lands spreading across parts of present day Northern Ireland and Argyll.
It is possible that Conall granted Colmcille permission to build a monastery on the island of Iona and later to his extend his network to other islands in the Hebrides.
The massive fort of Dunadd was built on a rocky outcrop rising 60 metres from the surrounding land.
From the hill you can see the harbour at Crinan, about 3 miles away and, across the sea, the islands of Jura and Scarba. It is easy to see why this strategic site was used and developed over many centuries.
The fort was expanded over many generations – starting with a small dun in the 4th or 5th century and still being developed into the 8th or 9th century. At one time, the walls here were 10 metres thick.
Climb up the hill to find two footprints carved into a rock near the summit. These footprints were part of the inauguration ceremonies of the kings of Dál Riata.
Colmcille is said to have taken part in the inauguration ceremony of King Aidan here at Dunaddd in 574.
A footprint carved in the rock faces north. Tradition says that this is the footprint of Oisin or Fergus Mor Mac Erca, the first King of Dál Riata who died in 501. A second footprint is incomplete.
There is a carved image of boar nearby, now very faint, and an inscription written in ogham – an early medieval alphabet. The letters consist of angled scratches made in the rock. It is not clear what the carvings mean but they show that the fort was a special place, linked with powerful people.
The original stone now lies underneath a composite stone replica so that the original carvings are protected.
The basin carved into the rock was probably used to hold water during inauguration ceremonies.
The Dál Riata made beautiful jewellery and stone carvings. Their settlement at Dunadd was a centre of learning and culture as well as a military and political base.
Archaeological digs on this site have revealed that the Dál Riata were trading with people from mainland Europe. Archaeologists unearthed a rich collection of pottery imported from the continent. The pottery is the largest collection ever found in any Celtic country on the west coast of Europe.
The Dál Riata also made their own jewellery such as broaches and pins. Excavations have unearthed the moulds in which these valuable objects were made.
Objects found here at Dunadd are now housed in the Kilmartin Museum and the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh.
Argyll was probably already Christian when Colmcille arrived in 563. The earliest Christian monuments found here date from the 6th century.
The area has many early Christian carved stones and sites connected with worship.
It is believed that the first church on this site was founded by St Adomnán (c.628-704), Abbot of the monastery at Iona from 679 to 704 and the author of the Life of St Columba.
According to tradition, Adomnán wanted to build his church two miles away at Lisnascreaghog but every time the walls were built, they fell down. Adomnán prayed about the problem but while he was praying, fell asleep. He woke to find an eagle flying away with his prayer book. The eagle dropped the book on this site and so Adomnán built his church here in Glenullin – Gleann an Iolair (the Eagle’s Glen).
There is a circular walk starting here which takes you to the nearby Glenullin woods, site of the Gortnamoyagh inauguration stone – also known as St Adomnán’s stone. The route of the walk is shown on an interpretation board at the church. You can also drive to Glenullin woods.
Inauguration stones were used during ceremonies to establish a ruler’s right to rule over the local area. There is a foot-shaped space imprinted in the stone where the chieftain is said to have placed his foot as a symbol of his commitment to the land. In Glenullin, the footprint is said to have been Adomnán’s, made as he stood to pray.
Footprints like these have been found at sites all over Ireland and Europe including Dunadd in Argyll, Scotland where there is a stone footprint linked to the kings of Dál Riata.
Today the remains of an early church lie in the centre of the graveyard. Outside the boundaries of the graveyard there is a souterrain which is now fenced off and inaccessible. This underground chamber was 15m long and 7m wide and may have been used as a store and also as a hiding place when the area was under attack.
The red sandstone fragment of the early medieval Camus cross now stands in a graveyard on the west side of the River Bann to the south of Coleraine. The cross is carved with religious scenes on the front and back – the Ark and the murder of Abel on the west face, and the baptism of Jesus and (possibly) his arrest on the east side
Adomnán – Colmcille’s biographer – tells a story which links Colmcille with this place. Adomnán describes how the saint was travelling back to the coast from the Convention of Drum Ceat with Abbot – later Saint – Comgall. Camus was one of Comgall’s monasteries and was probably located at the graveyard site. It overlooks what was a well-known ford on the River Bann and it was probably here that Colmcille crossed the river on his way to Coleraine. The two men sat down to rest,
Water for them to wash their hands was brought to the saints from a nearby spring in a bronze basin. St Columba took it and said to Abbot Comgall who was sat beside him:
‘The day will come, Comgall, when the spring from which this water was fetched for us will be unfit for men to use.’‘For what reason will the water of the spring be tainted?’ said Comgall.
‘Because it will be filled with human blood. For my near kindred and your kinsmen according to the flesh (that is the Uí Neíll and the Cruithin) will make war on one another, fighting a battle at this fort of Dún Cethirn near here. One of my kindred will actually be killed in this spring, and his blood with that of others will fill the site of the spring.’
Life of St Columba by Adomnán of Iona, Book I Story 49
The site of Dún Cethirn is thought to be the Giant’s Sconce.
‘Cam uisce’ means ‘bay or river bend’. For thousands of years people have crossed the Bann here at the ford near Loughan Island – as demonstrated by the many archaeological finds from the river. At nearby Mount Sandel archaeologists have found the remains of the oldest known human settlement in Ireland dating back at least 9,000 years
There is a bullaun stone on the north side of the graveyard. The water in the large hollow in this stone is believed to have holy properties and it is said to never dry out.
The earliest record of Coleraine appears in Adomnán’s Life of St Columba. Adomnán was an Abbot of Iona and wrote his account of Colmcille’s life a century after the saint’s death in 597.
Adomnán mentions that Colmcille stayed with the Bishop of Coleraine on his way home from the Convention of Drum Ceat. During his visit, the local people brought offerings of food which the saint blessed, Colmcille chastising one of the men for his greed. The food would have been eaten during a feast held while the saint was visiting.
The fact that there was a bishop here implies that Coleraine was thought of as an important place by that time.
The late 19th century Church of Ireland parish church of St Patricks may well have been built on the site of the original ecclesiastical settlement in Coleraine.
From the top of the Giant’s Sconce, it is easy to see why it would make a good place to build a fort. There are views in all directions and it is a short distance by land to the River Bann and the sea beyond.
This monument is thought to be the site of the ancient fortress of Dún Ceithirn. Today the site is a flat-topped hill but it was once a fort with walls 5-8 metres thick.
Adomnán, Colmcille’s biographer, describes the saint as predicting the Battle of Dún Ceithirn during his visit to the Convention of Drum Ceat saying that a local well at Camus would flow with the blood of his kinsmen.
The battle in 632 was between Congal Cáech, a king of east Ulster, and Domnall mac Áedo, a Donegal relative of Colmcille’s and king of Tara – perhaps the most powerful kingship in Ireland.
Dún Ceithirn seems to have been under Congal’s control and he may have been attempting to undermine Domnall’s power. Domnall won the battle but had to attack Congal again in 639 in the Battle of Mag Roth, also allegedly predicted by Colmcille.
According to legend when Colmcille left Ireland it is said that he vowed never again to set foot on Irish soil. However he appears to have returned at least once – for the Convention of Drum Ceat probably in the 570s, here just south of Limavady.
The event is recorded by Colmcille’s biographer Adomnán and in the contemporary annals.
Greatly exaggerated – but fictional – accounts of the meeting were also recorded in later medieval literature, making it one of the most famous encounters in early Irish history.
For instance Manus O’Donnell’s Life of Colum Cille written in 1532 says that Colmcille used the meeting to argue that the poets of Ireland should not be expelled from the country for their ‘multitude, their sourness, their complaining and their wicked words’ and their impertinent behaviour towards King Áed mac Ainmirech. Other issues were allegedly discussed too.
However, the meeting was really about the political and military relationship between the king of the Dál Riata Áedán mac Gabráin who had land in the north of Ireland and the west of Scotland and the powerful northern Irish overking Áed mac Ainmirech from Donegal.
The meeting was held here, just south of Limavady, on a flat-topped mound from where there is a clear view in all directions. This land was in neutral territory close to the border between the two men’s territories.
Colmcille was a close kinsman of Áed but he was also the leading religious figure among the Dál Riata – the island of Iona was probably part of Dál Riata territory.
During his time in Ireland, Adomnán says that invalids were brought to Colmcille to be cured of illnesses.
‘Many sick people put their trust in him and received full healing, some from his outstretched hand, some from being sprinkled with water he had blessed, others by the mere touching of the edge of his cloak, or from something such as salt or bread blessed by the saint and dipped in water.’
Life of St Columba by Adomnán of Iona, Book II Story 6
O’Donnell’s Life Of Colum Cille claims that Colmcille attended Droim Ceat partly at the request of the men of Ireland:
‘that he might bless their laymen and clerics and their men and women before he left this life; for, at that time, he was at the end of his age and his span’.
Adomnán also says that Colmcille predicted the Battle of Dún Ceithirn during this visit.
It was the first Anglican cathedral built in these islands since the Reformation. The dedication stone for the building of the cathedral is inside the west door and commemorates the Londoners who paid for it,
If stones could speake Then Londons prayse should sounde Who built this church and cittie From the grounde
Built into this stone is a smaller, older stone which is said to have come originally from the Teampall Mór, Derry’s medieval cathedral.
A stained glass window commemorating Colmcille is located in the south-east corner in the Archbishop Alexander Chapel. Archbishop Alexander’s wife was the hymn writer and poet Cecil Frances Alexander. Best known for hymns and carols such as Once in royal David’s city, and There is a green hill far away, she also wrote a hymn on the city’s patron saint.
This holy well is the focus for a celebration on 9 June – Colmcille’s feast day. A procession comes down the hill from the Long Tower Church and the well is blessed – the priest asking for protection for the followers of St Columba who ‘walk where he walked, and pray where he prayed’. People fill bottles with the water to take home. The water is said to cure disease – particularly of the eyes.
According to Manus O’Donnell’s Life, a child was brought to Colmcille to be baptised but there was no water nearby so the saint made the sign of the cross over the stone and water came out of it.
The origin of the name Derry is the Irish word doire meaning oak grove. On June 9th the well is decorated with oak leaves and pilgrims wear an oak leaf on their clothes.
In medieval times there were three wells here dedicated to St Colmcille, St Adhamhnán (a successor to Colmcille as Abbot of Iona and his biographer), and St Martin of Tours. A bullaun stone which once stood here can be seen at the Long Tower Church.
The decorative pump dates from 1897. At the time it was the main water supply for the houses which once lay on this slope under the city walls.
The well is among a row of single-storey houses called St Columb’s Wells. It can be reached via a long flight of steps at the side of Áras Cholmcille. Visitors can also go to the well via Fahan Street through Butchers’ Gate on Magazine Street. You can also go back via Fahan street and the Butchers’ Gate to St Columb’s Cathedral or to return to the starting point of the trail.
The Long Tower Church, like St Augustine’s and Áras Cholmcille, almost certainly stands within the enclosure of the monastic settlement of medieval Derry. It gets its name from a round tower which stood here up to the 17th century. The round tower stood beside the Teampall Mór, Great Church, which was one of the wonders of its day, when it was built in 1163.
A Life of Colmcille was written in Irish in Derry between 1150-1182. It gives an account of the saint’s life and his alleged journey around Ireland as he founded churches and monasteries. This and other accounts claim that Colmcille established religious foundations in places such as Moone in County Kildare, Swords in County Dublin and Kells in County Meath. In this period Derry became head of all the Columban churches in Ireland.
While the Norman Invasion curbed the influence of the abbey, it continued to exist until the 16th century, and the Teampall Mór became the medieval cathedral. The building was devastated by an explosion in 1567, when English troops were using it as a gunpowder store.
St Columba’s Church, Long Tower, was built in 1784, and was paid for by both Catholics and Protestants. In the 19th century, the story of Colmcille continued to influence and shape the city and its public buildings. In late 19th and early 20th centuries Fr Willie Doherty enlarged and altered the church, making a modern Teampall Mór. Stained glass, mosaics, and inscriptions on the floor of the church and over the main door all link the church with Colmcille and the founding of the abbey of Derry.
Outside the church is a bullaun stone set in a wall below a calvary scene. Bullaun stones have one or more curved indentations which hold holy water.
The stone was installed here on 9 June 1898 – the saint’s feast day. It had been moved from its original location by St Columba’s Well by Father William Doherty the previous year.
