Cill Chaitriona
History, tourist information, and nearby accommodation
HERITAGE RATING: 
HERITAGE HIGHLIGHTS: Chapel perhaps founded by monks from Iona.
Cill Chaitriona
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Cill Chaitriona is the partial remains of a chapel and burial ground, possibly early medieval, near the northern tip of Colonsay. Local tradition says that the chapel was founded by monks from Iona.
Fifty feet or so north of the chapel site is a standing stone known as Clach A'Pheanais, or The Penance Stone, which may have been used for flagellation or other acts of penance by parishioners following confession at the chapel.
The chapel is roughly oblong, measuring 32' by 20', with walls 3-4' thick, and is enclosed within an oblong enclosure. At one corner of the chapel is a small stone cross. At the west end is a small basin possibly used for holy water.
Several cruciform stones (rough stone crosses) have been found on the site. No one seems to know when Cill Chaitriona was built; if local tradition is correct and it was founded by monks from the first phase of monastic settlement on Iona, that would suggest a date between, say, 600 and 800 AD. Or, if the monks came from the second phase of monastic activity on Iona, that would place the building of the chapel at a time after 1200.
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About Cill Chaitriona
Address: Balnahard,
Isle of Colonsay,
Argyll and Bute,
Scotland
Attraction Type: Historic Church
Location: Follow the track past Balnahard Farm towards Balnahard Bay. The chapel is beside a livestock pen to the left of the track.
Location map
OS: NR421998
Photo Credit: David Ross and Britain Express
HERITAGE
We've 'tagged' this attraction information to help you find related historic attractions and learn more about major time periods mentioned.
Historic Time Periods:
Medieval
Find other attractions tagged with:
Iona (Place) -
Medieval (Time Period) -