St. Moluag's Cathedral is located on the Scottish island of Lismore just off the coast of

Oban Oban ( ; ' in Scottish Gaelic meaning ''The Little Bay'') is a resort town within the Argyll and Bute council area of Scotland. Despite its small size, it is the largest town between Helensburgh and Fort William. During the tourist season, th ...

. As a congregation of the Church of Scotland, which is

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

, the present-day parish church of 1749 stands on the site of the choir of the abandoned 13th-century cathedral, incorporating much of its material, but wrapped in 18th-century design.

History

Stained glass window inside St Moluags Cathedral 2017

Saint Moluag Saint Moluag (c. 510 – 592; also known as ''Lua'', ''Luan'', ''Luanus'', ''Lugaidh'', ''Moloag'', ''Molluog'', ''Molua'', ''Murlach'', ''Malew''

(Old Irish Mo-Luóc) (d. 592), founded a monastery on the island. It was a major centre of

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

in Scotland, and the seat of the later medieval bishopric of Argyll or the Isles. To modern eyes it seems an isolated location for such a centre, but in an era when the fastest and most reliable transport was by water, Lismore was ideally situated. The

Diocese of Argyll The Diocese of Argyll was an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of Scotland in the Middle Ages. The Diocese was led by the Bishop of Argyll, and was based at Lismore. During the Scottish Reformation, the majority of the Scottish established c ...

was Scotland's most impoverished diocese, and the fourteenth century Cathedral was very modest in scale. In 1749, the choir was converted to a parish church. For this purpose, the building was lowered and got new windows. The nave and western tower of the cathedral were reduced to their foundations. The chief surviving medieval features are three doorways, one blocked, another originally the entrance through the

pulpitum The pulpitum is a common feature in medieval cathedral and monastic church architecture in Europe. It is a massive screen that divides the choir (the area containing the choir stalls and high altar in a cathedral, collegiate or monastic church ...

, a

piscina A piscina is a shallow basin placed near the altar of a church, or else in the vestry or sacristy, used for washing the communion vessels. The sacrarium is the drain itself. Anglicans usually refer to the basin, calling it a piscina. For Roman ...

and the triple-arched

sedilia In church architecture, sedilia (plural of Latin ''sedīle'', "seat") are seats, usually made of stone, found on the liturgical south side of an altar, often in the chancel, for use during Mass for the officiating priest and his assistants, the ...

. Several late medieval grave slabs are preserved in the church or adjoining graveyard.Site Record
from ''Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland'' retrieved 24 May 2013

Parish

The building is in use as the parish church of Lismore, a congregation of the

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland ( sco, The Kirk o Scotland; gd, Eaglais na h-Alba) is the national church in Scotland. The Church of Scotland was principally shaped by John Knox, in the Scottish Reformation, Reformation of 1560, when it split from t ...

. It is also linked with Appin Parish Church on the mainland. The minister. is Rev Dr Iain Barclay ; previous minister is Rev Roderick D. M. Campbell, formerly of

St Andrew's and St George's Church St Andrew's and St George's West Church serves Edinburgh's New Town, in Scotland. It is a congregation of the Church of Scotland. The parish today constitutes the whole of the First New Town of Edinburgh and a small part of the early-19th-centur ...

in Edinburgh;

References

External links

Isle of Lismore site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lismore, Saint Moluag 14th-century church buildings in Scotland Cathedrals of the Church of Scotland Church of Scotland churches in Scotland Lismore, Scotland Medieval cathedrals in Scotland Churches in Argyll and Bute Category B listed buildings in Argyll and Bute Listed cathedrals in Scotland

History

Parish

See also

References

External links