Which Irish saint founded the monastery on Iona and converted Scotland? Columba is the canonical answer.
Columba, also known as Colmcille, was an Irish monk, abbot, and missionary born in 521. Around 563, he left Ireland with twelve companions and established a monastery on Iona, an island off Scotland’s western coast. The community became a major center of learning, manuscript production, worship, and missionary activity.
From Iona, Columba and his followers worked among the Gaelic peoples and the Picts. He is traditionally credited with converting Scotland, although historians describe Christianization as a gradual process involving many missionaries and political changes rather than the work of one person alone. Early sources also describe his meeting with the Pictish king Bridei near Inverness.
Columba died on Iona in 597, according to the traditional chronology. His monastery remained influential for centuries, and Iona later became an important pilgrimage site. A common mix-up is Saint Patrick, who is associated primarily with the Christianization of Ireland, not the foundation of Iona.