| Odhrán (St Oran in the anglicised
form) was, according to legend, buried alive as a sacrifice to prevent
the walls of the first church from falling down. Dedicated to his
memory, the Reilig Odhráin is the cemetery adjacent to the Abbey.
It was during the 9th-11th centuries
that the cemetery became a royal burial ground. In 1549 an inventory
of 48 Scottish, 8 Norwegian and 4 Irish kings was recorded. None
of these graves are now identifiable (their inscriptions were reported
to have worn away at the end of the 17th century) but it is undoubted that
Iona is the burial ground for several Kings of Scotland, no matter how
unsure the total number may be.
When landing at Port nam Mairtear,
funeral processions would move along Sraid nam Marbh - the street of the
dead - to their burial site. Port nam Mairtear is translated as Martyrs
Bay, which may be either a reference to St Columba's relics leaving Iona
to go to Kells or to a viking massacre which took place there. |
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