St Columba's Cave

What a difference a day makes! yesterday I was at the blipmeet in Edinburgh surrounded by so much history and I blipped a fox.

Today I was over in South Knapdale travelling along single track roads surrounded by hills , forests and lochs. Did I see any foxes or deer in the countryside ? Nope! Only a swan in the loch, got a blip of that but I decided to blip the cave which is a really interesting place and of great significance to the history of our country. Here is some info on the cave.

St Columba also known as Columcille



This peaceful location on the shores of Loch Caolisport is said to be where Colmcille stopped for a few days on his journey north from Ireland in 563.

He was seeking a meeting with the local king, Conall mac Comgall, whose chief fort was about 15 miles from here at Dunadd. According to tradition Conall agreed at this meeting to let Colmcille use the island of Iona to create his monastic settlement.

The chapel and cave are only a few metres from the sea loch. The chapel is ruined and overgrown. The cave is almost hidden from view behind the chapel. Follow the path through the grass to the back of the chapel to find the cave.

Colmcille's cave is 5 metres wide and 18 metres deep, large enough to accommodate a group of people.

On the east side there is a shelf supporting an altar. Above the altar there is a cross carved into the wall. An oval basin has been formed in the rock which would have held holy water.

You may find that visitors to the cave have left offerings on the altar. This is one of the few sites in the area that is used by pilgrims in this way.


Many thanks to everyone who so kindly favourited the fox , absolutely delighted.
Hope the last day of the blipmeet went well and really looking forward to seeing all your blips.