iona01 Welcome to the Island of Iona Iona has been a place of pilgrimage for visitors from all over the world ever since St Columba landed here in AD 563 and made the island a renowned center of learning, culture and religion. Iona Abbey and the Nunnery were given to the Iona Cathedral Trustees by the George Douglas, the 8th Duke of Argyll, in 1899 and have become the home of the Iona Community, which was founded in 1938 by Lord MacLeod of Fuinary. The remainder of the island was gifted to the National Trust for Scotland in 1979. This was made possible thanks to the generosity of the High Fraser Foundation. Iona is a site of international importance in terms of history and archaeology. It is also an outstanding example of a Hebridean Island landscape with an active crofting and farming population. Together with the local community, the Trust works to maintain these qualities for future generations. The Trust has been running conservation working holidays, called Thistle Camps, on the island since 1984. The volunteers on these camps carry out tasks such as footpath maintenance, conservation of machinery at the marble quarry and drystane dyking. As you walk through the village in May and June you may be lucky enough to hear the rasping call of a corncrake. The local community and the Trust have successfully worked together to implement measures that will maintain the habitat of this rare and protected bird. Over the last few years there has been a steady increase in the number of breeding pairs. Iona welcomes over 140,000 visitors each year and we would ask that you respect the island's wildlife and the privacy and lifestyle of the people that live and work here.