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[[Image:Columba at Bridei's fort.jpg|right|thumb|Iona's first abbot, [[Columba of Iona|Saint Columba]], before the fortress of the Pictish king.]]
The '''Abbot of Iona''' was the head of [[Iona|Iona Abbey]] during the [[w:Middle Ages|Middle Ages]] and the leader of the monastic community of [[Iona]], as well as the overlord of scores of monasteries in both Scotland and Ireland, including Durrow, [[Book of Kells|Kells]] and, for a time, [[Lindisfarne]]. It was one of the most prestigious clerical positions in [[w:Dark Ages (historiography)|Medieval]] Europe, and was visited by kings and bishops of the Picts, Franks and Anglo-Saxons. The Ionan abbots [[abbot]]s also had the status of ''' '[[w:coarb|Comarba]] of Colum Cille' ''' (i.e. the successors of Saint [[Columba of Iona|Columba]]).
Iona's position as the head of the Columban network (''familia'') of churches declined with the presence of abbots based at Derry, Raphoe, Kells and Dunkeld. In Scotland, the [[w:Bishop of Dunkeld|abbots of Dunkeld]] ruled much of central Scotland in the 11th century, and functioned as one of the most important politicians of northern Britain.<ref group="note">One of the abbots, [[w:Crínán of Dunkeld|Crínán]] married [[w:Bethóc|Bethóc ingen Maíl Coluim]], the daughter of King [[w:Malcolm II of Scotland|Máel Coluim II]], and became the progenitor of the so-called [[w:House of Dunkeld|House of Dunkeld]], who ruled Scotland until the later thirteenth century. Dunkeld became a bishopric, and the monks based at [[w:Inchcolm Abbey|Inchcolm Abbey]] became Augustinians.</ref>
==External Links==
* [http://www.cushnieent.force9.co.uk/CelticEra/celtic_abbsiona.htm Abbots of Iona]. Cushnie Enterprises.
[[Category: Monastics]]
