anfleada and her chaplains, who had been accustomed to the Roman
style, kept the festival in accordance with it.

To bring about uniformity a synod was held at Whitby to give the
advocates of either system an opportunity of stating their views.
St. Wilfrid, the great upholder of Roman customs, brought such
weighty arguments for his side that the majority of those present
were persuaded to accept the Roman computation. {27} St. Colman,
however, since the Holy See had not definitely settled the matter,
could not bring himself to give up the traditional computation
which his dear master, St. Columba, had held to. He, therefore,
resigned his see, after ruling it for three years only, and with
such of the Lindisfarne monks as held the same views retired to
Iona.

On his way thither he seems to have founded the church of Fearn in
Forfarshire, which he dedicated to St. Aidan, placing there some of
the saint's relics brought with him from Lindisfarne. He also
founded a church in honour of the same saint at Tarbert in
Easter-Ross. This, however, was afterwards called by his own name.

After a short stay at Iona, St. Colman re turned to Ireland and
founded a monastery at Inisbofin, an island on the west coast of
that country, peopling it with the monks who had left Lindisfarne
in his company. Later on a new foundation was made at Mayo for
Saxon monks only; it became known as "Mayo of the Saxons." The
saint ruled both monasteries till his death, which occurred at
Inisbofin, where {28} he was buried. He had translated thither the
greater part of St. Aidan's relics. The ruins of the ancient church
may still be seen on the island. St. Colman's feast has been
restored to Scotland by Pope Leo XIII.

Protestant writers have tried to interpret St. Colman's conduct
regarding the Synod of Whitby as a manifest opposition to Roman
authority. This, however, is a mistaken conclusion. It must be
remembered that the matter was regarded by him as an open question,
and he considered himself justified in keeping to the traditional
usage until Rome declared against it. St. Bede, who had no sympathy
with his views on the Easter question, speaks highly of St. Colman
as a holy and zealous Bishop.

There is some discrepancy between Scottish and Irish authorities as
to the precise date of the saint's death. In Scotland he was
honoured on this day, but Irish writings give the date as August 8.
There are also some slight differences in the particula