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Scotlands Culture\|Scotlands Stories
St Columba and St Magnus
Colm Cille, meaning 'dove of the church', was born in Ireland around the year 521. Colm Cille became a Holy Man, fled Ireland and then founded the Christian monastery on Iona.
Iona remains a centre of Christianity in Scotland today.
Legend says that Saint Columba's relics were kept in the Monymusk Reliquary, carried by Robert the Bruce's army at the Battle of Bannockburn.
Hundreds of years after Columba's life and death, Magnus Erlendsson was made Earl of Orkney.
According to the Orkneyinga Saga, Magnus was a pious man who was martyred after praying for his executioners.
Every year the Saint Magnus Festival brings together some of the world’s greatest musicians to perform at Kirkwall, Orkney.
Rachel Smillie tells the story of St Columba and St Magnus
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Listen to the stories of St Columba and the Heron, and Magnus
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