Commemorated - either 23rd September or 6th October
In the year 625, St. Adomnan (also Adamnan, Eunan) was born in Ireland, near the present-day modest town of Raphoe in County Donegal, Ulster. Ronan was his father’s name, and Ronat was his mother’s. Before moving to Scotland, the venerable man studied in one of the monasteries built by St. Columba of Iona (who was presumably a distant relative). Adomnan’s intelligence, great understanding of the Holy Scriptures and theology, fine teaching talents, and personal piety quickly made him famous. Adomnan is thought to have studied and taught at the Irish Monastery of Durrow for a short time. Historians believe the saint formerly presided over the Skreen Monastery in Sligo, Ireland; the area where the monastery stood was once known as “the Seals’ Land.”
Later, the man of God went to Scotland, to the great abbey of Iona, where he served as Abbot Segene’s monk. Adomnan became the ninth abbot of this renowned monastery in the year 679, when he was around fifty-five years old, and thus one of the great Columba’s successors. In the history of Iona, Adomnan was one of the wisest and most active abbots. He journeyed to the north of England and Ireland from time to time to promote the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He also conducted a successful trip to the Scottish region of Perth and Kinross, particularly to Glen Lyon, a long glen (a small valley in Scotland).
In the year 686, St. Adomnan travelled to the English kingdom of Northumbria to negotiate with King Aldfrith (a former student in Ireland) for the release of sixty Irish captives held by Aldfrith’s predecessor, King Ecgfrith. During the negotiations, St. Ceolfrid, Abbot of Wearmouth Monastery, persuaded Adomnan of the correctness of Roman practises and customs (the English Church had decided 22 years before at the Synod of Whitby to institute the practises of the Orthodox Church of Rome in the British Isles, but the Celtic Churches of Scotland, Ireland, and Wales complied with this decision). As a result, Adomnan accepted the Roman method of calculating Easter (which was followed by all Orthodox Churches) and other Patriarchate of Rome practises. The monks in Iona, on the other hand, were adamant about maintaining their age-old Celtic traditions, so the holy abbot had to leave Scotland and return to his native Ireland for sometime…[ paraphrased] – finish reading the life of Saint Adomnan at the source below.
Source: OrthoChristian.Com. 2021. Venerable Adomnan, Abbot of Iona in Scotland / OrthoChristian.Com. [ONLINE] Available at: https://orthochristian.com/86489.html. [Accessed 27 September 2021].
Image attribute: Buy Life of St Columba (Penguin Classics) Book Online at Low Prices in India | Life of St Columba (Penguin Classics) Reviews & Ratings – Amazon.in. 2021. Buy Life of St Columba (Penguin Classics) Book Online at Low Prices in India | Life of St Columba (Penguin Classics) Reviews & Ratings – Amazon.in. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.amazon.in/Life-St-Columba-Penguin-Classics/dp/0140444629. [Accessed 27 September 2021].