page_title: Eigg
section_title: Irish Christianity
hierarchical_section_title: Eigg / History / Irish Christianity
caption_attribution_description: English: Coast near Laig Bay
context_page_description: Eigg is one of the Small Isles, in the Scottish Inner Hebrides. It lies to the south of the Isle of Skye and to the north of the Ardnamurchan peninsula. Eigg is 9 kilometres long from north to south, and 5 km east to west. With an area of 12 sq mi, it is the second largest of the Small Isles after Rùm. Eigg generates virtually all of its electricity using renewable energy.
context_section_description: The Irish missionary activity which brought Columba to Iona also brought Donnán to Eigg, where he attempted to establish a monastery, at Kildonnan. According to traditional legends, a Pictish queen took objection to this breach of her sovereignty, and sent agents to Eigg to kill him, which they did on the eve of Easter, in 617; traditionally, Donnán had a large number of companions with him, whom he requested were killed first. Regardless of whether accounts of Donnán's death are pious forgeries or not, the monastic community continued (or was re-populated) after Donnán's death, under the authority of Iona.
  By the following century, the monastery was significant enough for the death of its superior, Oan, to be mentioned in the Annals of Ulster. The monastery was located within an oval enclosure, surrounded by a ditch, housing a rectangular chapel in the centre, and a handful of smaller buildings either side. A handful of early inscribed stone slabs were located there, of which one bears a Pictish design, comprising a hunting scene; the cross on its obverse is in a style which was fashionable in the 9th century.
  On the coast at the opposite side of the island, with a good view of Rùm, are 16 square cairns, lined up neatly into groups; they are each between 6 and 12 feet wide, most being bordered by a stone kerb, and some having upright corner stones. This form of cairn is usually associated with the Pictish kingdoms of Ce and Fortriu, a particularly close match being found at Garbeg, within the latter; comparable examples date to the early 8th century. The site may have some connection with the contemporary monastery at Kildonnan.
caption: The Bay of Laig. The square cairns are sited on the far coast, in the centre
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