Above: Caol Ì (The Sound of Iona). Mixed media on 16×16″ wood. Rose Strang 2026.

I’ve always found the name of the narrow channel of water between Iona and Mull poetic: The Sound of Iona, or in Scottish Gaelic, Caol Ì. Pronounced ‘Cuhl’ like the ‘u’ in ‘numb’. If you want to get fussy, the ‘L’ is pulled or rolled back in the throat, almost like a Spanish ‘L’. In original Gaelic, it means ‘narrow’ or ‘slender’. and  Ì simply means ‘Iona’, which is the original name of Iona, and is pronounced ‘Eee’.

It would have been called ‘Ì Chaluim Chille‘, meaning ‘The Island of the church of Calum Cille from the time Calum Cille arrived on the island but apparently it was always called  ‘Ì’. 

Hmm, that just means ‘island’ so they must have distinguished it in some way, in the name. Who knows?

Calum Cille was a powerful figure in the history of the Celtic Christian early church, which I’ve written about elsewhere. He was an exiled Irish prince and a well-trained warrior. However, it’s well-documented historically that he led a group of monks according to Christian principles, which you’d imagine would include peaceable ways.

Which brings us back to my painting, which attempts to capture the particular peace of gentle Hebridean rain, standing on Traigh Ban nam Manach (the white shore of the monks) looking towards Mull across the Sound.

In recent years, the Iona Community (an ecumenical Christian group on the island, who run religious programmes through Iona Abbey) have incorporated Celtic pagan forms of worship with Christian, which means a slant towards God in landscape and nature. This is a real Scottish tradition of the Hebrides, since there were not always churches in remote islands, so finding religious meaning in the clouds, the land and light or dark was just what people did.

Here’s a well-known prayer from Iona:

‘Silence.

Be still

and aware of God’s presence

within and all around.’

Here’s the painting again. Wishing you a peaceful week …