Pictland: The Conversion to Christianity of a Pagan Race

The first Christian missionaries in Pictland are thought to have come from Ireland in the early sixth century. Prominent among them was a disciple of St Bridget of Kildare called Darlugdach, who built a church at Abernethy under the patronage of the Pictish King Nechtan. St Ninian too worked among the Picts and made many converts, but it was St Columba who played the most decisive role in the conversion of Pictland. From his monastery on Iona, Columba organised missions and travelled tirelessly to bring Christianity to the Picts, his conversion of the pagan King Brude being one of the key events of Scottish history. See more