Catriona Allan was appointed first Warden of the House of Prayer on the Isle of Iona in 1997. She entered the Community of the Adorers of the Sacred Heart of Jesus under the Rule of St Benedict at Tyburn in London in December 2002.

Catriona made her first profession on 25th June 2005 as Sister Mary Colmcille. She later moved to Rome and spent two years with four other Sisters at Monastero Madonna dell'Eucaristia, a new community house on the Via Aurelia near the Vatican.

She returned to Scotland in December 2008 and after a few weeks with the community of Tyburn Sisters at the Benedictine convent in Largs, Ayrshire, returned to Tyburn, where she made her final monastic profession on 10th March 2009, supported by members of her family, and  friends from Iona.

Mother Colmcille makes her vows in the sanctuary of the Tyburn Chapel

Mother Colmcille with friends from Iona days:

Sr. Jean Lawson, Liz Tomlinson and Fr. David Trainer

Mother Colmcille with her parents, Daphne and Richard,

who live in Easdale and belong to St. Columba's Cathedral Parish in Oban

Find out more about Tyburn convent here