Biography
Adomnán was a descendant of Colmán mac Sétna, a cousin of Saint Columba and the ancestor, through his son Ainmire, of the kings of Cenél Conaill. He was the son of Rónán mac Tinne by Ronat, a woman from the (northern) Uí Néill lineage known as the Cenél nÉnda. Adomnán's birthplace is Raphoe, in County Donegal in the Province of Ulster. Some of Adomnán's childhood anecdotes seem to confirm at least an upbringing in this area.
It is thought that Adomnán may have begun his monastic career at a Columban monastery called Druim Tuamma, but any Columban foundation in northern Ireland or Dál Riata is a possibility, although Durrow[disambiguation needed] is a stronger possibility than most. He probably joined the Columban familia (i.e. the federation of monasteries under the leadership of Iona Abbey) around the year 640. Some modern commentators believe that he could not have come to Iona until sometime after the year 669, the year of the accession of Abbot Failbe, the first abbot of whom Adomnán gives any information. However, Richard Sharpe argues that he probably came to Iona during the abbacy of Ségéne (d. 652). Whenever or wherever Adomnán received his education, Adomnán attained a level of learning rare in Early Medieval northern Europe. It has been suggested by Alfred Smyth that Adomnán spent some years teaching and studying at Durrow[disambiguation needed], and while this is not accepted by all scholars, remains a strong possibility.
Prior to becoming abbot of Iona, Saint Adomnán had been abbot of Skreen Monastery in County Sligo. The site originally known as Conc na Maoil, which means Hill of Seals, can still be seen this day.
In 679, Adomnán became the ninth abbot of Iona after Columba. Abbot Adomnán enjoyed a friendship with King Aldfrith of Northumbria. In 684, Aldfrith had been staying with Adomnán in Iona. In 686, after the death of Aldfrith's brother King Ecgfrith of Northumbria and Aldfrith's succession to the kingship, Adomnán was in Northumbria on the request of King Fínsnechta Fledach of Brega, in order to gain the freedom of sixty Gaels who had been captured in a Northumbrian raid two years before. This Adomnán achieved. Adomnán, in keeping with Ionan tradition, made several more trips to the lands of the English during his abbacy, including one the following year. It is sometimes thought, after the account given by Bede, that it was during his visits to Northumbria, under the influence of Abbot Ceolfrith of Jarrow, that Adomnán decided to adopt the Roman dating of Easter that had been agreed some years before at the Synod of Whitby. Bede implies that this led to a schism at Iona, whereby Adomnán became alienated from the Iona brethren, and went to Ireland to convince the Irish of the Roman dating. Bede's account is however rarely believed by historians working in the area, although it is clear that Adomnán did adopt that Roman dating, and moreover, probably did argue the case for it in Ireland.In 697, it is generally believed that Adomnán promulgated the Cáin Adomnáin, meaning literally the "Canons" or "Law of Adomnán". The Cáin Adomnáin was promulgated amongst a gathering of Irish, Dal Ríatan and Pictish notables at the Synod of Birr. It is a set of laws designed, among other things, to guarantee the safety and immunity of various types of non-combatant in warfare. For this reason it is also known as the "Law of Innocents".
