Saints in Scottish Place-Names
Funded by a Leverhulme Trust Project Grant
St Kilda's Church, Torosay (Mull)
Grid reference
NM 609 248 (accurate position)
Six-figure easting & northing
160900 724800
Latitude
56.35507476202439
Longitude
-5.870770206275963
Altitude (metres)
5
County
Argyllshire
Nearby places
Port Màire, Torosay (Mull) (0.33 miles)
Tobar Màire, Torosay (Mull) (0.37 miles)
Tobar Choluim Chille, Torosay, Mull (1.14 miles)
St Mary's Well, KKV (Mull) (4.8 miles)
St Mary's Chapel, KKV (Mull) (4.8 miles)
Object Classification
Ecclesiastical
Is linear feature?
No
Notes
Episcopalian church, built 1875 (NMRS). The place-name 'St Kilda', an island-name, arises from a misintepretation of the Old Norse name Skilðar, a group of Atlantic islands laying some 50 km west from Uist and Harris. The name has nothing to do with any actual saint. However, an entertaining story about the origin of the name is told in J.P. MacLean 'A History of Clan MacLean' (Cincinatti, 1889), p 335: 'The present MacLean of Lochbuie was instrumental in building, near his mansion, St Kilda's Chapel. He informed me that he had decided to call the structure St Oran's chapel. The rector related to the bishop the legend of St Ordan .... After hearing the recital the bishop refused to dedicate the chapel to St Oran. Lochbuie, disgusted by the credulity of both his rector and bishop and somewhat nettled, declared firmly that its name should be St Kilda'. This story raises the possibility that MacLean of Lochbuie, disgusted by the clergy, deliberately chose a non-saint as the dedicatee of his new chapel as a trick or mocking joke against the respectable gentlemen.
Relationships with other parishes
Names
1 head-name linked to this place ?St Kilda's Church
Head name
St Kilda's Church
Place
St Kilda's Church, Torosay (Mull)
Certainty that this name applies to this place
Certain
The status of this name is
Current
Is this a current OS form? ?
Yes
Is this the original referent of the place?
Yes
Is the association of this name to this object hypothetical?
No
St Kilda's Church 1843, OS 6 inch first edn.
Historic formSt Kilda's Church Head nameSt Kilda's Church PlaceSt Kilda's Church, Torosay (Mull) Certainty that this name applies to this placeCertain SourceOS 6 inch first edn. Date of citation1843 x 1882 Notes on the context of this place-nameMid to late 19th c. |
Source code
OS 6 inch first edn.
Source title
Ordnance Survey 6 Inch to the Mile, First Edition
Notes
Mid to late 19th c.