Monument record 22 - ST FLANNAN'S CHAPEL, FLANNAN ISLES
Summary
Location
| Grid reference | NA 72620 46840 (point) |
|---|---|
| Map sheet | NA74NW |
| Island | Eilean Mhor, Flannan Isles |
| Parish | UIG, Western Isles |
Map
Type and Period (1)
Full Description
NA74NW 1 7262 4684.
(NA 7260 4674) Beannachadh (NR) (Remains of)
OS 6"map, (1965)
Teampull Beannachadh or St Flann's Chapel (T S Muir 1885) an early, Irish type oratory,rectangular on plan and corbelled, the roof having been mostly rebuilt.
It measures only 5' by 7 3/4' within walls 26" to 30" in thickness. The doorway, 35" in height and 24" in greatest width, is in the west gable and has slightly inclined jambs. It is the only opening in the building. The roof, built of thin, flat slabs in contilever construction rose externally to 8'10".
There is no sign of an enclosure or burial ground.
Tradition says that even after the Reformation, the inhabitants of the West coast of Lewis made an annual pilgrimage to this site, which was considered to have been the retreat of a holy man.
Watson (W J Watson 1926) suggests that the probably 7th century. St Flannan of Cell da Lua may have been the saint of the Flannan Isles, and Nisbet and Gailey (H C Nisbet and R A Gailey 1960) compare the oratory to that on Rona (HW83SW 1) which they date to the 7th or 8th, centuries by analogy with the Irish oratories eg. Skellig Michael.
D MacGibbon and T Ross 1896; T S Muir 1885; RCAHMS 1928; H C Nisbet and R A Gailey 1960; W J Watson 1926.
Chapel as described. Name confirmed.
Visited by OS (R D) 16 July 1971.
T S Muir, 1885, Ecclesiological notes on some of the Islands of Scotland, 60 plan (Bibliographic reference). SWE5959.
D & T MacGibbon & Ross, 1896, The Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland from the earliest Christian Times to the17th Century, Vol. 1, 77-8 fig. 41-2 (Bibliographic reference). SWE4321.
W J Watson, 1926, The History of the Celtic Place-Names of Scotland: being the Rhind lectures on archaeology 1916, 304 (Bibliographic reference). SWE7623.
RCAHMS, 1928, The RCAHMCS 9th Report & Inventory: Outer Hebrides, Skye and the Small Isles, 30, No. 105 fig. 16 (Bibliographic reference). SWE5587.
H C and R A Nisbet and Gailey, 1960, Archaeol J, 111 (Bibliographic reference). SWE4509.
Sources/Archives (5)
- --- SWE4321 Bibliographic reference: D & T MacGibbon & Ross. 1896. The Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland from the earliest Christian Times to the17th Century. Vol. 1, 77-8 fig. 41-2.
- --- SWE4509 Bibliographic reference: H C and R A Nisbet and Gailey. 1960. Archaeol J. 117. 88-115. 111.
- --- SWE5587 Bibliographic reference: RCAHMS. 1928. The RCAHMCS 9th Report & Inventory: Outer Hebrides, Skye and the Small Isles. 30, No. 105 fig. 16.
- --- SWE5959 Bibliographic reference: T S Muir. 1885. Ecclesiological notes on some of the Islands of Scotland. 60 plan.
- --- SWE7623 Bibliographic reference: W J Watson. 1926. The History of the Celtic Place-Names of Scotland: being the Rhind lectures on archaeology 1916. 304.
Finds (0)
Protected Status/Designation
Related Monuments/Buildings (0)
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Record last edited
Jul 28 2005 2:24PM
