St Columba - founder of Durrow: what do we really know about him? Dr Brian Lacey

St Columba (also known as Colmcille) was the founder of the early medieval monastery of Durrow, Co. Offaly. In fact, despite claims that he was the founder of many other monasteries in Ireland, Durrow is the only one for which we have genuine historical evidence. In the Middle Ages, along with Patrick and Brigid he was honoured as one of Ireland’s three patron saints. In some ways he could be said to be the favourite – there is hardly a parish in Ireland that doesn’t have some story about him or some monument to his name. The genuine information about him, however, was continuously ‘embroidered’ with ever more fantastical legends which, although a testament to his popularity, nevertheless obscure the facts of his real life. This talk reflects on that varied heritage and attempt to distinguish the facts from the fiction.

Dr Brian Lacey is a historian and archaeologist specialising mainly in the early medieval period in Cos Donegal and Derry. His interdisciplinary PhD (1999) dealt with the heritage of St Colum Cille. He lectured at Magee College, Derry (1974-86) and later set up Derry’s Heritage and Museum Service having directed a series of salvage excavations at Troubles' bomb-sites in the city. He led the pioneering archaeological survey of Co. Donegal (1980-3) and (1998-2012) headed the Discovery Programme, an institute based in Dublin for advanced research in Irish archaeology. He is the author of many research papers and about 15 books, including St Columba: His Life and Legacy, Manus O Donnell: Life of Colum Cille (ed.), and Medieval and monastic Derry: sixth century to 1600. A recent edited book dealt with what happened in Derry during the Easter Rising of 1916. His latest book Adomnán, Adhamhnán, Eunan: the life and afterlife of a Donegal saint was published on 28 May 2021.