Adomnán

Adomnán or Adamnán of Iona (ˈaðəṽˌnaːn, Adamnanus, Adomnanus; 624 – 704), also known as Eunan (ˈjuːnən ; from Naomh Adhamhnán), was an abbot of Iona Abbey ( () 679–704), hagiographer, statesman, canon jurist, and saint. He was the author of the Life of Columba (Vita Columbae), probably written between 697 and 700. This biography is by far the most important surviving work written in early-medieval Scotland, and is a vital source for our knowledge of the Picts, and an insight into the life of Iona and the early-medieval Gaelic monk. Adomnán promulgated the Law of Adomnán or "Law of Innocents" (Lex Innocentium). He also wrote the treatise De Locis Sanctis ('On Holy Places'), an account of the great Christian holy places and centres of pilgrimage. Adomnán got much of his information from a Frankish bishop called Arculf, who had personally visited Egypt, Rome, Constantinople and the Holy Land, and visited Iona afterwards. Adomnán was born about 624, a relative on his father's side of Columba. He was a member of the Northern Uí Néill lineage Cenél Conaill. He was the son of Rónán mac Tinne by Ronat, a woman from another Northern Uí Néill lineage known as the Cenél nÉnda. Adomnán's birthplace was probably in or near Raphoe, a town in what later became Tír Chonaill (now mainly County Donegal), in Ulster in the north of Ireland. Some of Adomnán's childhood anecdotes seem to confirm at least an upbringing in this fertile eastern part of present-day County Donegal, not far from the modern city of Derry. It is thought that Adomnán may have begun his monastic career at a Columban monastery called Druim Tuamma, but any Columban foundation in northern Ireland or Dál Riata is a possibility, although Durrow is a stronger possibility than most. He probably joined the Columban familia (i.e. the federation of monasteries under the leadership of Iona Abbey) around the year 640. Some modern commentators believe that he could not have come to Iona until sometime after the year 669, the year of the accession of Fáilbe mac Pípáin, the first abbot of whom Adomnán gives any information.