 Durrow, during Columba's life and for centuries after his death, was a well known center of education.The Venerable Bede called it "Monasterium nobile in Hiberniâ", and, at a later period, Armagh and Durrow were called the "Universities of the West".Durrow, like Clonard, Derry, and most other monasteries in the area, was frequently ravaged by the Vikings, but was not completely destroyed until the Norman invasion.