Martyrs of Iona

The martyrs of Iona were a group of 68 monks living at Iona Abbey on the island of Iona, Scotland. Viking raids of the British and Irish coasts had begun in 793 after Viking raiders attacked the monastery of Lindisfarne on the English coast. As many abbeys were places with much riches in those days, and Iona was an island that was easily accessible to Viking boats and hard to reinforce from the mainland, the abbey became a target to the Vikings.

In 806, Viking boats landed on Iona and they came to the abbey. Sixty-eight monks were massacred in the course of their plundering, and a bay of the island named Martyrs' bay, has been named after them.