Martyrs of Iona

The Martyrs of Iona were a group of 68 monks of Celtic Christianity who lived in the monastery on the island of Iona, in Scotland, and were killed there in the early 9th century. Their remembrance is tied to 12 January.

Viking raids on the coasts of Britain and Ireland began in 793, with the sack of Lindisfarne. Iona itself was attacked in 795, 802, 806 and 825. The massacre of the monks followed the raid of 806, when Viking fleets stormed the monastery, plundered it and killed the monks, most of them unarmed. It was the first case of bloody martyrdom at Iona.

Monasteries of those centuries were frequent targets because they held lands and kept gold and other precious things, even holy books adorned with gold leaf.

The Martyrs of Iona are honored as saints of the undivided Church, in the Celtic and Western tradition; no Orthodox synodal canonization is known.