Speaking during his weekly papal audience on June 11th, 2008, Pope Benedict XVI described St Columbanus as “the best known Irishman of the early Middle Ages”. But it is in the interest of all ages that his life’s work is known of now and is celebrated.
Columbanus was the first to coin the phrase “totius Europae” (of all Europe), which appeared in one of his letters written around 600 AD to Pope Gregory the Great, showing then that it was possible to be Irish, Frankish, Spanish or German while also sharing a common European identity.
That a son of Carlow, our Columbanus, would have such vision and foresight more than 1,400 years ago is quite astonishing.
And some fruits of this vision are apparent at an exhibition at the National Museum, Dublin, entitled, Words on the Wave: Ireland and St Gallen in Early Medieval Europe.
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This remarkable showcase offers an opportunity to unravel the early medieval journeys of Columbanus, Gall and other monks who travelled to Europe, and to discover what inspired their journey and their mission through manuscripts and other memorabilia of the time.
This exhibition is hosted as a collaboration between the National Museum, Switzerland’s Stiftsbezirk St Gallen and the Abbey Library of St Gall.
I had the pleasure of visiting the Abbey Library in July 2023 as part of the XXVI Columbanus Day when it was hosted in the Swiss city of St Gallen, and having a guided tour by the library’s director Dr Cornel Dora.
I remember being intrigued by these Irish manuscripts. I wondered at the genius of these saints, their gift with words and how these words have passed through the generations. I recall the glass cases that were home to gospel texts, Latin grammar books – with corrections by monks written in Irish along the margins – and parchments telling of celestial events observed by the monks, for instance a solar eclipse and the appearance of Halley’s Comet as far back as the year 989.
It was in Saint Gallen during the XXVI Columbanus Day celebrations that the Columban Charter of Partnership was signed by representatives from cultural, social and religious groups across the countries that make up the Columban Way today, a pathway that follows the footsteps of Columbanus and others.
These countries include Ireland, Britain, France, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Liechtenstein and Italy. The charter is an agreement to develop pilgrim routes, trails and circuits to map out the entire Columban Way and to develop religious and cultural tourism.
The annual Columbanus Day celebrations are one such way of giving life to this partnership and promoting the ideals Columbanus expressed in his letters and sermons; ideals that speak to the issues of the environment, climate change and interfaith dialogue.
It is a privilege for Carlow, and for the diocese of Kildare & Leighlin, to host this year’s celebrations, the XXVI iteration, which concludes today.
In a Europe that risks more fracturing at this time, with hostilities on so many fronts and a much more polarised polemic, the message of Columbanus needs to be heard once again.
This year’s Columbanus celebrations have welcomed pilgrims attending from all over Ireland and throughout Europe.
It was uplifting to hear of Ireland’s contribution to the birth of Europe from Dáibhí Ó Cróinín of the University of Galway as well as witness the launch of an exhibition supported by the Department of Foreign Affairs themed Ireland and the Birth of Europe.This was complemented by a symposium on creation, taking inspiration from the first sermon of Columbanus: if you want to know the creator, understand creation.
An ecumenical evensong in the Adelaide Memorial Church in Myshall, Co Carlow, in the presence of the relic of St Columbanus, took place in advance of a pilgrim procession with the relic to the Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, Myshall, appropriately reflecting the collaborative character of Columbanus.
This spirit of walking together was also captured in our 9km pilgrimage of the Columban Way, from Columbanus’ Cairn on the Nine Stones to the village of Myshall, his reputed place of birth.
This wonderful collective undertaking was underscored by former president Mary McAleese, who spoke on Columbanus, the Man from Myshall, followed by a concert in Carlow Cathedral. A Mass in Carlow Cathedral to honour the XXVI Columbanus Day concluded the 2025 European gathering.
Pope Leo XIV, in a message for our XXVI Columbanus Day celebrations in Carlow, reminded participants that St Columbanus can “still teach our world today about how love of God and neighbour requires us to care for creation and to cultivate our souls in the theological virtues, for every aspect of our world reflects in some way the grandeur and goodness of its divine maker”.
This is another way of saying that the message of St Columbanus is as relevant in 2025 as it was 14 centuries ago.
Is Columbanus as well-known as he should be? We need to reintroduce this European giant of the Middle Ages again to the place where he was born, to the area where he was raised and to the people he left behind.
Without Myshall, the birthplace of Columbanus, there would be no Saint Gallen, Luxeuil or Bobbio – key places associated with the missionary – and the totius Europae vision may never have crystallised.
Most Rev Denis Nulty is Bishop of Kildare & Leighlin
