Iona, Nova Scotia

Iona in Nova Scotia

Iona (Scottish Gaelic: Sanndraigh) is a small community in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, located in Victoria County on Cape Breton Island. It is named after Iona in Scotland. Perched above the Barra Strait between the Great Bras d'Or and Piper's Cove portions of Bras d'Or Lake, Iona is the western terminus of the Barra Strait Bridge carrying Nova Scotia Route 223 across to Grand Narrows village. The Cape Breton and Central Nova Scotia Railway passes through the village, crossing the Barra Strait over the Grand Narrows Bridge on its way east to North Sydney and Sydney.

Iona was settled by Gaelic speaking immigrants from the Isle of Barra in 1802. It is the home of Highland Village Museum (An Clachan Gàidhealach), a part of the provincial Nova Scotia Museum system featuring living history exhibits of the Gaelic settlement experience in Nova Scotia.

Education

• Rankin School of the Narrows

References

• Iona on Destination Nova Scotia

Coordinates: 45°57′40″N 60°48′36″W / 45.96111°N 60.81000°W / 45.96111; -60.81000 (Iona , Nova Scotia)

• Highland Village Museum/An Clachan Gàidhealach

A view of Iona in the early 1900s. St.Columba Church to the left, the Grand Narrows Bridge over the Barra Strait in the background.