Saint Cathan, also known as Catan, Cattan, etc., was a 6th-century Irish monk revered as a saint in parts of the Scottish

Hebrides The Hebrides (; gd, Innse Gall, ; non, Suðreyjar, "southern isles") are an archipelago off the west coast of the Scottish mainland. The islands fall into two main groups, based on their proximity to the mainland: the Inner and Outer Hebr ...

Source Material

This Saint appears in the ''

Aberdeen Breviary The ''Aberdeen Breviary'' ( la, Breviarium Aberdonense) is a 16th-century Scottish Catholic breviary. It was the first full-length book to be printed in Edinburgh, and in Scotland. Origin The creation of the Aberdeen Breviary can be seen as one o ...

'',

Walter Bower Walter Bower (or Bowmaker; 24 December 1449) was a Scottish canon regular and abbot of Inchcolm Abbey in the Firth of Forth, who is noted as a chronicler of his era. He was born about 1385 at Haddington, East Lothian, in the Kingdom of Sc ...

's ''

Scotichronicon The ''Scotichronicon'' is a 15th-century chronicle by the Scottish historian Walter Bower. It is a continuation of historian-priest John of Fordun's earlier work '' Chronica Gentis Scotorum'' beginning with the founding of Ireland and thereb ...

'', and the ''

Acta Sanctorum ''Acta Sanctorum'' (''Acts of the Saints'') is an encyclopedic text in 68 folio volumes of documents examining the lives of Christian saints, in essence a critical hagiography, which is organised according to each saint's feast day. The project w ...

'', and a number of placenames in western Scotland are associated with him.

Gaelic Christianity

He is said to have been one of the first

Irish missionaries The Hiberno-Scottish mission was a series of expeditions in the 6th and 7th centuries by Gaelic missionaries originating from Ireland that spread Celtic Christianity in Scotland, Wales, England and Merovingian France. Celtic Christianity sprea ...

to come to the

Isle of Bute The Isle of Bute ( sco, Buit; gd, Eilean Bhòid or '), known as Bute (), is an island in the Firth of Clyde in Scotland, United Kingdom. It is divided into highland and lowland areas by the Highland Boundary Fault. Formerly a constituent is ...

, then part of the Gaelic Kingdom of

Dál Riata Dál Riata or Dál Riada (also Dalriada) () was a Gaelic kingdom that encompassed the western seaboard of Scotland and north-eastern Ireland, on each side of the North Channel. At its height in the 6th and 7th centuries, it covered what is n ...

. Very little is known of him; he is generally only mentioned in connection with his more famous nephew

Saint Blane Saint Blane (Old Irish ''Bláán'', died 590) was a bishop and confessor in Scotland, born on the Isle of Bute, date unknown; died 590. His feast is kept on 10 August. Late (medieval) Scottish texts relate that his mother was Irish and that Sai ...

, who was born on Bute and later proselytized among the

Picts The Picts were a group of peoples who lived in what is now northern and eastern Scotland (north of the Firth of Forth) during Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. Where they lived and what their culture was like can be inferred from e ...

. Both saints were strongly associated with Bute and with

Kingarth Kingarth ( sga, Cenn Garad; gd, Ceann a' Gharaidh) is a historic village and parish on the Isle of Bute, off the coast of south-western Scotland. The village is within the parish of its own name, and is situated at the junction of the A844 and ...

monastery, which became the center of their cults.Mackinlay, p. 104. A number of churches were dedicated to Cathan across Scotland's western islands. ''Tobar Chattan'', or Cathan's Well, at Little Kilchattan on Bute may represent the site of Cathan's original church. Other churches, now in ruins, include St Cathan's Chapel on

Colonsay Colonsay (; gd, Colbhasa; sco, Colonsay) is an island in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland, located north of Islay and south of Mull. The ancestral home of Clan Macfie and the Colonsay branch of Clan MacNeil, it is in the council area of Argy ...

Kilchattan Chapel Kilchattan Chapel (''St Cathan's Chapel'') is a ruined medieval chapel near Ardminish, Isle of Gigha, Argyll and Bute Argyll and Bute ( sco, Argyll an Buit; gd, Earra-Ghàidheal agus Bòd, ) is one of 32 unitary authority council areas in ...

Gigha Gigha (; gd, Giogha, italic=yes; sco, Gigha) or the Isle of Gigha (and formerly Gigha Island) is an island off the west coast of Kintyre in Scotland. The island forms part of Argyll and Bute and has a population of 163 people. The climate is ...

, and Kilchattan Church on

Luing Luing ( ; Gaelic: ''Luinn'') is one of the Slate Islands, Firth of Lorn, in the west of Argyll in Scotland, about south of Oban. The island has an area of and is bounded by several small skerries and islets. It has a population of around 200 peo ...

. The Luing church served the historical Kilchattan parish; the modern Kilchattan Church was built at Achafolla in 1936. Cathan is said to have lived for a time at the monastery at Stornoway on the isle of

Lewis Lewis may refer to: Names * Lewis (given name), including a list of people with the given name * Lewis (surname), including a list of people with the surname Music * Lewis (musician), Canadian singer * "Lewis (Mistreated)", a song by Radiohead ...

, and his

relics In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains of a saint or the personal effects of the saint or venerated person preserved for purposes of veneration as a tang ...

are said to have been housed at a chapel founded by

Clan MacLeod Clan MacLeod (; gd, Clann Mac Leòid ) is a Highland Scottish clan associated with the Isle of Skye. There are two main branches of the clan: the MacLeods of Harris and Dunvegan, whose chief is MacLeod of MacLeod, are known in Gaelic as ' ("se ...

on the same island.Mackinlay, p. 105.

Impact

Cathan's name survives in the various

toponym Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of '' toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage and types. Toponym is the general term for a proper name of ...

s in the area containing the element ''Chattan'' (where the first consonant is

lenited In linguistics, lenition is a sound change that alters consonants, making them more sonorous. The word ''lenition'' itself means "softening" or "weakening" (from Latin 'weak'). Lenition can happen both synchronically (within a language at a pa ...

), such as

Ardchattan Ardchattan and Muckairn is a civil parish within Argyll and Bute in Scotland. It lies north of Oban, bordering Loch Etive and includes Glen Ure, Glen Creran, Barcaldine, Benderloch, Connel, Bonawe and Glen Etive. At the 2001 census, Ardchat ...

("Cathan's Heights") and the many places called Kilchattan ("Church of Cathan"). Examples include the names of the hill of ''Suidhe Chattan'' and of the village of Kilchattan Bay, both on Bute. His name may be further connected to the

Chattan Confederation Clan Chattan ( gd, Na Catanaich or gd, Clann Chatain) is a unique confederation of Highland clans. The clan is distinctive in highland clan history in that it was acknowledged to be a community or confederation, of twelve separate Scottish cla ...

, a coalition of

Scottish clans A Scottish clan (from Gaelic , literally 'children', more broadly 'kindred') is a kinship group among the Scottish people. Clans give a sense of shared identity and descent to members, and in modern times have an official structure recogni ...

. His feast day is 17 May. Cattanachs are said to be families that followed or were servants of this Saint and include founder families (of Macbean, MacPherson, and MacPhail).

Notes

References

* * * * "The Statistical Account of Buteshire", 1822, from ''Creag Dubh'', No. 18 (1966) * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cathan Medieval Irish saints Medieval Scottish saints 6th-century Irish priests Irish expatriates in Scotland