St Columba the rascal Saint

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 Last month I went over to Scotland to explore the history of Dalriada - (the ancient Ulster Scots Kingdom) and also to see Fingals Cave which has been on my bucket list for many years now. 

At the top of the Dalriada fort it mentions that they had strong links with the St Columba monestary which lay 37 miles to the west of the Dalriada fort. 

This was the first time I ever heard St Columba mentioned was at the top of this fort. 


After that I had to head to the Isle of Mull to get another boat from there to FIngals cave. On the way back from Fingals Cave we were offered to stop off and see St Columbas monestary on Iona Island. 

I got off and had a nosey around. What a place this is! It was there I found out that St Columba came from Ireland to set up this early Celtic/Christian monestary which I believe is one of the longest standing still active monasteries in the world.


After that I never gave St Columba a second a thought. 


Just a couple of days ago me and wee betty took a trip to Sligo. I have trees phantom planted at Devils Chimney waterfall and wanted to head down and find them. I also love to visit lots of the ancient sites and holy wells in the area. Love the characters you meet around holy wells. 


As I was driving I passed this church called St Columbas and thought could this be connected to the one on Iona island. I stopped off to ask and turns out St Columba had to flee Ireland due to some battle of the books and the Dalriadans gave him a place safe refuge. 


It was here at this church in Sligo reading that I really begun to like this St Columba. The reason for his exile was he seen some religious scriptures that another monk had and the church was keeping them a secret. So St Columba decided to copy them and shared them out with the people. This was probably the first ever case of copyright theft some 1500 years ago. He was tried at the Hill of Tara and was found guilty. After there was some battle known as the battle of the books and St Columba fled to Dalriada. 


Then I read that Columba in Irish means Colmcille and that he was from the town of Glencolmcille in Donegal. I knew that place right away. Around 6 years ago I phantom planted a rowan tree right in this town. So I decided to drive straight to Glencolmcille to see my tree and to track down the roots of St Columba. 


I found what was left of the old St Columba chapel and had myself a meditation session right in the middle of it. His holy well is just a steep walk up the hill from the chapel and it was up to there after to get my head covered in holy water. 


As most of you know I have been very disheartened recently with the authorities chopping down over 200 of our community fruit trees. Its one of the reasons I went to Sligo was for some time away to think about this. When things go belly up for me I like to go to Buddhist monasteries, holy wells and ancient sites. I sat in the place where Yeats got his inspirations from and then followed in the footsteps of St Columba. I like to always try and keep myself spiritually elevated rather than let someone elses darkness take you. Not easy at times. So many critics on my work to be honest has really annoyed me. They dont have a clue some of them. Too much time in books and not enough looking at our landscape.

When I drive around Donegal and that whole part of Ireland you can see its barren, Dead of trees. This whole island is one big framers field and we should not be cutting down anymore trees!


My phantom planting is a form of protest planting. To protest that the powers above really do need to get their acts together and make an effort to replace the great Atlantic Rainforests that once covered this land. Its sad that saving the planet has to be profitable. 


Anyhow guys, coming across this St Columba dude has really enriched my life. He was a rascal just like myself. He spoke out against the system and his his exile he trained monks that created the book of Kells. He also founded some 37 more monasteries in his lifetime. He was said to have spread his message in a very unorthodox way. 


Thank you St Columba. You have made me want to do what I do all the more. 


Rise of the Phantom Planters guys. The system will not be fixed by the system. 


Connect to your spiritual self, connect to nature. 


I challenge you all to phantom plant a tree


Peace and love 


The Phantom Planter and Wee Betty












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