Historic Iona High Cross - Recreation Collection

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This handcrafted Celtic Cross pendant is a detailed double-sided replica of the historic St. Martin’s Cross of Iona, faithfully reproducing the distinctive details of one of the best-known surviving Celtic high crosses.

SPECIFICATIONS

• Height: 4.39 cm (1.73 inches)
• Width: 1.09 cm (0.43 inches)
• Weight: approx. 4.7 g
• Double-sided replica of St. Martin’s Cross of Iona
• Handmade in Ireland
• Hallmarked in Ireland

Each pendant is handcrafted to capture the detail of the original St. Martin’s Cross, which still stands on the historic island of Iona off the west coast of Scotland. The design is reproduced on both sides, creating a substantial piece of Celtic jewelry with a direct connection to early Christian history.

History of St. Martin’s Cross of Iona

Iona is a small island off the Isle of Mull in western Scotland and has been an important religious site for centuries. An early Gaelic name associated with the island was the Isle of the Druids. In the sixth century, St. Columba, or Columkille, travelled there from Ireland and established a monastic settlement.

Columba arrived on Iona in 563 AD. The monastery developed according to the Celtic monastic tradition, with monks living in separate cells and gathering together for meals and communal prayer. From Iona, monks travelled throughout mainland Scotland, preaching Christianity and establishing further religious foundations.

In 575 AD, Columba returned to Ireland, where he defended the poets of Ireland at the Council of Drumceat. He subsequently visited some of his earlier foundations and founded the monastic settlement at Drumcliffe before returning to Iona. He died there in 597 AD.

Iona continued to develop as an important centre of Christianity and learning. During the seventh century, it became renowned for its library, while tradition holds that the island once contained hundreds of crosses. Viking raids brought widespread destruction, and only a small number of the great crosses survive today.

Among the most important is St. Martin’s Cross, dedicated to St. Martin of Tours and believed to have been carved towards the end of the eighth century. Its survival makes it an important example of the monumental stone crosses associated with early Celtic Christianity.

St. Martin of Tours

St. Martin lived in France during the fourth century and served as a soldier in the Roman Imperial Army. After becoming a Christian, he remained in the army until completing his appointed term. One of the best-known stories from his life tells of Martin dividing his cloak and sharing it with a beggar.

After leaving military service, Martin established a hermitage near Poitiers. Other men eventually gathered around him, forming a religious community in which each monk had his own cell while joining the others for meals and communal prayer.

Martin was later chosen as Bishop of Tours. He continued his monastic way of life and established a community near Tours where he lived among his fellow monks.

The precise reason a major cross on Iona was dedicated to this French saint is uncertain. However, devotion to St. Martin spread widely through Britain and Ireland. His life was known to early Irish monks and is recorded in the Book of Armagh, one of Ireland’s important medieval manuscripts.

The connections between St. Martin’s monastic tradition and the practices of early Irish and Columban monasteries help explain why he became a figure of admiration and veneration within the Celtic Christian world.