According to Adomnan of Iona, a contemporary Irish abbot and saint, the plague affected everywhere in the British Isles except for a large area in modern Scotland. Adomnan considered the plague a divine punishment for sins, and he believed that the Picts and Irish who lived in northern Great Britain were spared from the plague due to the intercession of Saint Columba who had founded monasteries among them. Adomnan personally walked among victims of the plague and claimed that neither he nor his companions became sick.[3][4][3]