There are many islets around the islands of Iona and one of them, across from Iona Abbey, has the intriguing name of Eilean nam Ban (Women’s island).
According to island legend, the name goes back to to the time of St Columba when the saint decreed that all the women of Iona together with all the island cows should be banished there. The following saying is even ascribed to him: 'Far am bi bo bidh bean, s’ far am bi bean bidh mallachadh. (Where there is a cow, there will be a woman and where there is a woman, there will be mischief).
If archaeological research has failed to find any traces of animal or human occupation on Eilean nam Ban at the time of Columba, it is still perfectly feasible that women would be prohibited from intruding in this realm of monks and holy men. This may be how the legend was born of an island where female creatures would be banished. Iona did have a separate nunnery however, although it was not built until the thirteenth century when the Columban influence was on the wane.
Contributed by Chris Merchant, Iona Abbey
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