The Irish standard., 1903-06-13
OFFERED FOR SALE.
An Island With a Glorious Past in
the Real Estate Market.

~" sSlouo Will 0IOrlOuS PAST in
the Real Estate Market.
The following interesting sketch is
taken from the June number of Dono-
hoes Magazine:
| Said COLUMBIA, when he landed from
his coracle upon the silver strand of
Iona: This place, small and mean as
| it appears, shall be honored not ONLY
| by the kings of the Scots and their
people, but by the rulers of strange
nations and those subject to them. BY
the holy men also Of other churches it
shall be held in reverence" And the
prophecy came true. For two ccntu-
ries Iona was the nursery of bishops,
the center of education, the ASYLUM of
religious knowledge the point of union
among the British Isles, the capital
and metropolis of the Celtic race.
To-day it is the real estate market
offered to the highest bidder by it's
present owner, the Duke of ARGYLL
Here is an opportunity for wealthy
Catholics to save from further desc
| Grafton this isle of sacred associa-
tons.
Iona is lonely island of the Hebri-
DIES, about mile from the Scottish
mainland, some three miles long by
one broad, and containing about 1000
acres. y Wild ungratcful, craggy
spot it is. anchored amid tempestuous
seas, cold and lonely and barren; but
it suited the resolute. sOrrowful Co
lumba, whose very love of books
caused his exile. COLUMBIA came of a
fierce and warlke line, the Hy-Niall
of the north, and was himself Il
man of ardent temperament and
strong passions. \ very ancient
chronicler. no less person than his
successor, the learned Albanian, has
left us portrait of this bencticent
promoter of learning and refinement.
HE was Il man of well-formch and
powerful frame, his skin WAS white,
his face was broad and fair and radi-
ant. lit up with large. gray, luminous
eyes: his large and well-sllapctl head
was crowned with close and curling
hair. His voice WAS clear and rcsOl,-
ant. SO that he could be heard ut the
distance of more than 1000 PAGES. vet
sweet with more than the sweetness
of bards." From his youth Columbia
was trained to the service of tho
Church. first at krllS, and then in the
schools of Neville and Clonalxl He
was a model of the moElstic scholar.
to whom idlcnesS is Il special ahomina-
tion. When not occupied with his re-
ligiouS duties, Columbia was ever fond
of reading. writing. teaching; when he
could not study he was wont to take
hand in the manual labors of the
monastery. and carry on his broad,
bare shoulders the great sacks of meal
from the mill to the Kitchen. He was
about twentyfour when he founded
the monastery and schools of Derry.
among his own tribeslncn of Tir-Con-
nell, on the banks of the Foylc, not
far from the spot where stand the
ruined walls of the great fortress of
the Northern Clans II was perhaps
the site OF the school of the ancient
DruilS. for even then there stood on
the site beautiful grove of oak
trees. which Columbia spared and care
fully tended as a shelter for his stu
dents 4 pretty legend has hoatcd
down the ages, telling how the angels
were wont to descend from heaven
and crowd every leaf on the oaks of
Derry to hear the monks of COLUMBIA
chant the sacred strains of the psalms.
In the after years of his exile, CO.
lumba's heart often turned with visit
full eagcrness to his beloved Derry,
and we have yet some very ancient
verses on this school attributed to the
saint:
'"The reason love Derry is
For it's peace, for it's purity,
And for its crowds of white angels
From one end 10 the other.
"My Derry! Mine own little grove!
My dwelling, my dear little cell!
O Eternal God, in heaven above,
Woe be to him who violates it,"
The ancient Irish were pnssiomatcly
addicted to the chase, and so it is no
wonder that a man like COLUMBIA was
an ardent lover of great forests: while
yet in Ireland he built another mOnas-
tic school at Durr0w. in the Kings
County, in a spot called the Plain of
the Oaks. There is an ancient poem
attributed to COLUMBIA in which he
pOurS out his affection for his charm
ing retreat of burrows There the
wind sweeps through the clms and the
oaks. Thc" the blackbird's joyous
note is heard at early dawn and the
Saint hears yet the echoes of it's soft
toned bells and secs the autumn glor-
les of it's any-cOlorcd woods.
80 Cormack! beautiful is that church
of thine
With it's books, with it's learning:
city devout with Il hundred crosses,
Without blrmiSl, and without trans