The Early Church in Skye

We have seen how the Gaelic people from Ireland, probably a mixture of P and Q Celts, began to raid the Western coasts of Britain. While these incursions appear to confirm the general impression that they were an aggressive, expansionist race, it must be appreciated that there were no national boundaries at this time, and that any land annexed was regarded as an extension of the country or province of the intruders, at the expense in most cases of the indigenous population. The Irish invaders, the original Scotic tribes, were successful throughout the Western borders of Scotland, or Alba as it was then known, as they had only a sparse population to contend with, but were repelled to a great extent throughout the rest of the country. Centuries later however they were able, through increasing influence, marriage ties, and the Christianising efforts of the Irish missionaries, to join with the Picts and form the Scotland we know today.

The poems of Ossian, probably composed in the 2nd century AD, affirm the presence of Gaelic speaking Celts at this time in Skye. Cuthullin, son of Semo and grandson of Cathaid, was the chief of the island, with his stronghold at Dunsgaich in Tarsgavaig (left). He is said to have led a force of Skyemen to the aid of the Caledonian Picts against the Roman army, who were advancing into their territory in central Scotland. The poems go on to tell how in the minority of Cormac the supreme king of Ireland, Cuthullin was chosen to lead the Irish tribes against the forces of Swaran, King of Lochlain, leaving his young wife, Bragela, at home in Dunsgaich. Cuthullin it is said never returned to Skye, having been slain in battle at the age of twenty-seven.

These glimpses from the distant cultures point to Skye's involvement in this heroic age of the Gaelic speaking people, and the presence of Norse pirates along the western coasts, at a much earlier period than history otherwise suggests. The arrival of the main flow of Irish missionaries to Skye was therefore preceded by the establishment of a Gaelic community in the south end of the island, able or forced to tolerate a Pictish presence in the north end. The Cuillins, even at this early age, divided the island into two separate communities.

St Ninian built his church, Candida Casa, at Whithorn in Galloway in 397AD, and carried the gospel to the Picts even as far as Orkney and Shetland. Skye must have been involved in this initial evangelising process, so it is safe to assume the arrival of the first Christians sometime between 400 and 450AD. We know that Ninian visited Rome and would naturally have been greatly influenced by its doctrines. However, he received many scholarly men from Gaelic Ireland, among them Finnian of Moville, who later had as a pupil the great Columba. Thus a link was established between the British and Scoto-Irish churches. It is difficult therefore to assume that the Pictish church, an off-shoot from the British, and the Scoto-Irish church were completely separate despite the ongoing warring which went on for centuries between the two peoples. This unlikely relationship greatly facilitates our understanding of the early church in Skye.

Ninian's church in the Orkneys and Shetland, established in the early part of the 5th century, received its first attacks from Norse pirates sometime in the 6th century, and was also attacked by Aidan, king of the Dalriadans, the aforementioned Gaels who colonised the west coast of Scotland. History suggests that Pictish survivors escaped south to the east coast of Caithness and Sutherland and to the Hebrides, but this is by no means certain. What we do know is that there was a considerable Pictish settlement in the north of Skye evidenced by the finding of three of the earliest class I Pictish stones at Clachard Tote (right), Dunvegan and Fiskavaig.

A further class I stone to be seen in Raasay displays a superimposed leaf type cross, a style seldom seen, but found interestingly on what is known as Peter's stone at Whithorn. This early leaf cross originated in Ireland where one or two examples can be seen, notably the Stele of Arraglen (County Kerry), and the Stele of Reasg (Dingle Peninsula). A similar stone but of class II is to be seen at Papil in Shetland. These crosses were added to the Pagan stones in Scotland to indicate the displacement of the Druid religion by its Christian successors, and provide indelible proof of the progression of Christianity from Ireland to Whithorn, and from there north through the length of Scotland. The class 1 stone in Raasay, of an earlier type than the Shetland Papil stone, suggests a movement of Ninian's missionaries by sea through the inner Hebrides to Orkney and Shetland.

The standing stones are the only archaeological relics the Picts have left us on the island, but a study of early Pictish history points to Skye as the seat of an important branch of their kingdom. In the Irish annals of Tighernac and Ulster, under the date of 668, note is made of the voyage of the sons of Gartnait with the Columban clergy of Skye to Ireland, and their return two years later. These entries frequently refer to events which can be dated to some years earlier. There are historical Pictish kings of the name Gartnait and this particular entry refers to one who is recorded as being active in battle in 649. Mention is also made of Cano from Skye, son of Gartnait, engaged in strife with the descendants of Aidan, the Dalriadan king, who has already been mentioned in warfare in the northern isles. It is evident that these were attempts by the Dalriadans to impose on the ruling Pictish families an overlordship which in Skye was unsuccessful, indicating a powertul Pictish presence in the island.

The date 668 of the entries in the Ulster annals are thought to have been copied from similar recordings made in Iona some years earlier and now lost, referring perhaps to the year 664, the date of the famous Synod of Whitby, when the Roman method of calculating Easter was chosen in preference to that of the Irish. We know that there was a strong Columban contingent present there to support the defeated Bishop Colman of Lindisfarne, and that following the Synod he resigned and left for Ireland, accompanied by Columban clergy who helped him build a monastery on Inisbofin (Island of the White Cow). It is intriguing to think that his company may have included the sons of Gartnait and their followers, but of this we have no definite record.

Whatever else these preceding paragraphs tell us, they outline the paradox of tribal warfare between the Gaelic speaking Q Celts and the Picts in Skye, and at the same time a gradual coalescing of both branches of the church on the island, a mirror of happenings on the Scottish mainland.

The period of Irish missionary activity ranks among the very greatest in the history of Christianity, and its spread throughout Skye must surely have ushered in almost three centuries of peace and tranquility, lasting until the dreadful years of destruction wrought by the marauding Vikings at the close of the 8th century.


The Peter Stone Whithorn Irish-British-Pictish	Cross Slab with Symbols Raasay Pictish Class I with superimposed Cross	The Papil Stone Shetland Pictish Class II

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THE EARLY CHURCH IN SKYE

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