SKIPNESS CHURCH HISTORY and PARISH RECORD LINKS

When Skipness parish was disjoined from Kilcalmonell and Kilberry, Saddell parish similarly disjoined from the parish
of Killean and the new parish of Saddell and Skipness formed, a new church was built at Claonaig referred to as
'Cluneg' or 'Clunaig', in 1756.

Though there is no certainty in the matter, the old chapel to the south-east of Skipness Castle, built around the time of
the castle's 13th or 14th century enlargements, may well have continued in use till the new church's completion, it
being on record that the 1692 minister of 'the chapel of Skipness' was 'translated' to the parish of Craignish and the
Skipness chapel continuing with another incumbent, possibly lay, preacher.

Although there are no visible traces of it today, there had been an earlier building which was used for church services
at the east end of Claonaig Bay, a small burial ground on the south side of Claonaig Glen and a burial ground too on
the bay itself for shipwrecked sailors and unbaptised infants.

The persuasion of there being a lay preacher at Claonaig furthered by the suggestion that the near-literal meaning of
'Cnocan Tigh Searmonaich', a small hillock about ¼ mile WSW of Glenreasdell Mains, eqivocates to 'The Hillock of
The House of The Preacher'.

The 1756 church at Claonaig is a very plain, harled, building, three pointed windows on each side an empty bellcote
on its west gable-head and a small session house too at its west end. It was noted in need of repair in 1843, works
carried out in 1866 and then in 1892.

Until 1872, when Skipness was allowed its own, the new, 1753-formed parish of Saddell and Skipness had been under
the charge of but a single minister.

From 1892, the same year that Skipness' Free Church, now the village's hall, was built, until 1906, the incumbent was
the Rev. John Maclachlan and it was he who oversaw St Brendan's which had its foundation stone laid on May 30,
1896 by Mrs Graham of Skipness, a cavity cut in that stone to accommodate a marmalade pot with some coins and a
copy of 'The Glasgow Herald' inside.

Built beside a thatched cottage that had, until 1868, been a school, St Brendan's, designed by London architect
Bertram Vaughan Johnson, looks undoubtedly more Church of England than Church of Scotland, a simple structure
of grey rubble walls trimmed with bright red sandstone, which came from behind Skelmorlie Castle in Ayrshire, then
occupied by John Graham, a cousin of Robert Chellas Graham of Skipness.

Graham, the prime mover for the provision of the church, was a close friend of the architect and indeed Johnson
married Robert Graham's daughter, Dorothy, in the 'new' Skipness church, now a category C(S) Listed Building, in
1903.

Robert Graham, author of "The Carved Stones of Islay", published just the year before Skipness' construction, had
intimate knowledge of late-mediaeval West Highland gravestones and Skipness' unique east window, reflecting the
revival of interest in Celtic design in the 1890's in Scotland and elsewhere and gifted in memory of his mother, is a
product of his studies.

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The window, consisting of three narrow lancets, the central one taller than its two companions, is filled with an
intricate Celtic-revival abstract mosaic of delicately coloured glass, the pattern outlined in lead, the glass by James
Powell & Co, Whitefriars, London and the legend on the window reading "In memoriam Susannae Roope Graham
matris delectissimae filius'.

"The Campbeltown Courier", of January 16, 1897, observed, "Mr Graham, who designed the window, is an authority
on Celtic art and the conventional lines of the scheme are beautifully lighted up by drifts of rainbow colour, an effect
which admirably sustains the character of old West Highland Art", a mural tablet, of appropriate Celtic design, in
memory of R. C. Graham (1848 - 1908) is also within the church building.

The Rev. John Maclachlan, though retiring from active duty in 1906 because of ill health, continued to retain his, now
nominal, appointment, a succession of subsequent ministers, the Rev. Duncan MacNaughton (1906 - 1908), The
Rev. John M. Menzies (1908 - 1913) and others serving as 'assistants' until the Rev. John Maclachlan's death in 1930.

Church services were held in both English and Gaelic until 1949 when, the local use of Gaelic fading, services were all
held in English.

In the early days of the new church, the precentor was local inn-keeper and final licensee of the old Claonaig Inn, it
built around the mid-1860's, Neil Currie, his key found by use of a tuning-fork.

SKIPNESS PARISH RECORDS

1784 Skipness Rent books
Added Jul 2006

Skipness Rent books - List arrears due 1814

Added Aug 2006

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1841 Census - Skipness House, The Mill and the Farm
Added Jan 2000

1841 Census - Skipness Village

Added Feb 2000

Farms & Estates - OPR records + Notes

Updated Oct 2006

Skipness Parish Marriages 1801-1821

Updated Jan 2004

Skipness Parish Marriages 1801-1821(by bride)

Added Jan 2004

Skipness Parish Marriages 1801-1821(by groom)

Added Jan 2004

Skipness Kirk Session Minutes

Added Nov 1999

More Skipness Kirk Session Minutes

Added Dec 2002

Skipness Monumental Inscriptions

Added Nov 1999

Skipness Monumental Inscriptions from KIST

Added May 2000

Skipness New Year Folklore

Added Jan 2000

Skipness General Location Map

Added Nov 1999

Skipness Detail Map

Added Nov 1999

Skipness, Ontario
Added Dec 1999

Skipness Photos
Updated Jul 2006

Robert Howie's Boys Brigade Memories of Skipness

Added Aug 2001

Robert Howie's "Mad Laird of Skipness"

Added Aug 2001

Skipness Biographies
Updated Oct 2006

People Researching in Skipness Parish

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 SKIPNESS RELATED WEB PAGES
Kintyre Cemetery Gravestone Photos - Includes Skipness
Link added Aug 2006

Skipness Castle - Clan Campbell Society North America Site

Link added May 2000

Argylshire - A Contribution to Argylshire History Being a Monograph Sketch of the SWEYNES

OF SKIPNESS and the MACTAVISHES OF DUN-ARDRIGH, KNAPDALE AND ELSEWHERE,
their Ancestors and Descendants by George D. Mathews, D.D., L.L.D"
Link updated Apr 2006

From the Clan McTavish site, with their permission

Civil Registration Indexes for Scotland, Scots Origins

Link added Apr 2002

Scotland GenWeb Argyllshire Homepage

Link added Jul 2003

Who owns Scotland - Skipness, Claonaig Link fixed Aug 2003

(May not work with older browsers)

UK/Ireland Census Extractions

Link Added Aug 2005

ALSO
Bellochantuigh/Bellonchantuy - 1792 census, Killean and Kilchenzie Parish
Added May 2000