Kilrenny ( gd, Cill Reithnidh) is a village in

Fife Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross ...

, Scotland. Part of the East Neuk, it lies immediately to the north of (but inland and separate from)

Anstruther Anstruther ( sco, Ainster or Enster ; gd, Ànsruthair) is a small coastal resort town in Fife, Scotland, situated on the north-shore of the Firth of Forth and south-southeast of St Andrews. The town comprises two settlements, Anstruther Eas ...

on the south

coast. The first element of the name is from the

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic ( gd, Gàidhlig ), also known as Scots Gaelic and Gaelic, is a Goidelic language (in the Celtic branch of the Indo-European language family) native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, as well as ...

''cill'', meaning 'church'. The '-renny' element may perpetuate a worn down form of Etharnan or Itharnan, an early churchman who 'died among the Picts' in 669 according to the ''

Annals of Ulster The ''Annals of Ulster'' ( ga, Annála Uladh) are annals of medieval Ireland. The entries span the years from 431 AD to 1540 AD. The entries up to 1489 AD were compiled in the late 15th century by the scribe Ruaidhrí Ó Luinín, ...

''." That Kilrenny is of early Christian origin is suggested both by the Kil- element of the place-name, and by the Skeith Stone, a

carved stone Stone carving is an activity where pieces of rough natural stone are shaped by the controlled removal of stone. Owing to the permanence of the material, stone work has survived which was created during our prehistory or past time. Work carried ...

with marigold motif (''circa'' 700?) which stands to the west of the village, possibly marking an ancient area of sanctity. The village was formerly Upper Kilrenny, until nearby Lower Kilrenny changed its name to Cellardyke in the 16th century. The oldest part of the present church is the 15th century tower, with the body of the building rebuilt in 1807–08 (re-using the original stones as building rubble). The village is a conservation area has many well-preserved houses in the local vernacular style, with

crow-stepped gable A stepped gable, crow-stepped gable, or corbie step is a stairstep type of design at the top of the triangular gable-end of a building. The top of the parapet wall projects above the roofline and the top of the brick or stone wall is stacked in ...

s, datestones, forestairs, pan-tiled roofs etc.

References

Villages in Fife {{Fife-geo-stub

See also

References