St Congan's Church

A fine day today with a brisk westerly, so we took a walk up the hill to St Congan's, the old parish church at Kilchoan. St Congan (or Comhan), an 8th century Irish Abbot, is the patron of those parishes in west Lochaber known collectively as the Rough Bounds. While there is disagreement as to the derivation of 'Kilchoan', it is quite likely that the village was named after St Congan.

The original church on this site dates back to the 12th century, but it was largely lost when it was incorporated into a new building in 1763. St Congan's is now abandoned, the present parish church having been built in 1829, on a site beside the road to the east. The ruin stands on a hill above Meall Mo Creidhe, now a guest house but originally the church manse.

A well-preserved 15th century grave slab is to be found in the churchyard. The upper part shows a harp player with, below it, a hand holding a sword or claymore and, to the right, a cleric wearing a mitre. While some have fallen, many of the headstones are in good condition. The names carved into them offer a record of the families which have formed the backbone of the local community over the centuries - Camerons, Campbells, Hendersons, MacPhails, MacDonalds. In some ways more moving, alongside the headstones of the richer parishioners are headstones of rough-hewn slabs of local slate.

It is a wonderfully peaceful place, a place to wander amongst the graves, reading the inscriptions and thinking about the people who went before, and then for sitting and enjoying the panoramic view south across the Sound of Mull towards Tobermory and Bloody Bay.