The Shared Ancestry of Lindisfarne and Iona Colleges

Lindisfarne College in Hastings and Iona College in Havelock North are known today as brother and sister schools but their connection stretches far deeper than proximity or partnership. Their shared origin reaches back over 1,400 years to the roots of Celtic Christianity, long before New Zealand was even imagined.

The Original Celtic Path: Iona to Lindisfarne

In 563 AD, St Columba founded a monastery on the remote Scottish island of Iona. This small island in the Inner Hebrides became a centre of learning, spirituality, and missionary work. The monastery fostered a unique Celtic Christian tradition, combining rigorous scholarship with a deeply spiritual way of life. From this hub, monks were trained not only in scripture but also in art, music, and education, equipping them to carry the faith to distant lands.

In 635 AD, one of these monks, St Aidan, journeyed from Iona to establish a monastery on Lindisfarne, an island off the northeast coast of England. Lindisfarne became known as Holy Island, a cradle of Christian learning in England. It was here that the Lindisfarne Gospels were created, blending Celtic art with Christian scripture. The movement from Iona to Lindisfarne represents the transmission of faith, knowledge, and educational philosophy across geography and generations, a lineage both New Zealand colleges honor in their names.

Presbyterian Heritage in Hawke’s Bay

Hawke’s Bay was settled by a strong Scottish Presbyterian community in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. For these settlers, education was inseparable from faith. The Celtic Christian model, which emphasized character, scholarship, and spiritual formation, inspired the founding of local schools. They sought to create institutions that would cultivate intellect alongside faith and moral development, preserving a sacred educational tradition in a new land.

Iona College Founded 1914

Iona College was established as a Presbyterian girls’ school. The name was chosen deliberately to honor the Isle of Iona, where Celtic Christianity flourished under St Columba. Iona College aimed to instill a strong sense of spiritual identity, moral integrity, and academic excellence in young women. The choice of name was deeply symbolic, reflecting a desire to connect the students not only with their Scottish heritage but also with the broader history of Christian learning.

Lindisfarne College Founded 1953

Nearly forty years later, Lindisfarne College was founded as a boys’ school. The founders, guided by the same Presbyterian Church of New Zealand, deliberately chose the name Lindisfarne to reflect the continuation of the spiritual and educational journey that began at Iona. The name evokes St Aidan's mission from Iona to Lindisfarne, symbolizing continuity, faith, and a commitment to holistic education. The selection of Lindisfarne was more than a homage; it was a declaration that the boys’ school was part of the same spiritual and cultural lineage as Iona College.

The names were not coincidental. Iona and Lindisfarne were deliberately selected to honor key sites in early Celtic Christian history, linking the schools to a tradition of scholarship, missionary work, and faith based education.

A Spiritual Siblinghood

Though founded decades apart, Iona College and Lindisfarne College share a common spiritual ancestry and educational philosophy. Their formal brother and sister partnership recognized what had always been true: they both emerged from the same religious and cultural lineage. The schools continue to celebrate the values embodied by their namesakes, faith, scholarship, leadership, and service, providing students with a living connection to a history that spans centuries and continents.

In Hawke’s Bay, the sequence of Iona to Lindisfarne is not just preserved in history, it is embodied daily in the classrooms, traditions, and ethos of both schools, shaping generations of students who are conscious of their rich spiritual and cultural heritage.