Iona monastery is attacked
The raids reach Scotland's most important religious island within two years of Lindisfarne
Quick facts
- Location
- Iona, Scotland
- First raid
- 795 CE
- Later raids
- 802, 806, 825 CE
- Founded by
- Columba, 6th century
What happened
In 795, the same year Viking ships hit the monastery of Jarrow in Northumbria, another raiding party struck Iona off the west coast of Scotland and attacked sites in Ireland. Iona had been founded as a monastery by Columba in the sixth century and was one of the most influential religious centers in the British Isles, home to a scriptorium that produced illuminated manuscripts. Further raids on Iona followed in 802, 806, and 825, the 806 attack reportedly killing 68 monks.
Why it matters
Iona's repeated targeting over three decades shows the 793 Lindisfarne raid was not an isolated event but the opening of a sustained pattern across the Irish Sea and North Sea. The monks' eventual relocation of some of Iona's community and relics to Kells in Ireland was a direct response to the danger of staying on an exposed island.
How we know
Irish annals, including the Annals of Ulster and Annals of Innisfallen, record the individual raids on Iona by year, giving the sequence of 795, 802, 806, and 825.
Sources
- World History Encyclopedia. Viking Raids in Britain · Reputable sourceworldhistory.org · The domain "worldhistory.org" is on our Reputable source registry. · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
- historyexplained.org. The Sack of Iona: Viking Raids and the Fall of a Sacred Monastery (795-806 AD) · General sourcehistoryexplained.org · Cited as a "reference" source (no stronger domain match). · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
See something wrong? . Corrections with a source get fixed fastest.
Part of a timelineThe Vikings26 events · Raiders, traders, and settlers who reshaped Europe and reached North America centuries before ColumbusView all →