St Ninian's Chapel, Southend (Kintyre)

Grid reference

NR 727 045 (accurate position)

Six-figure easting & northing

172700 604500

Latitude

55.28203916443369

Longitude

-5.5796184592857685

Altitude (metres)

10

County

Argyllshire

Nearby places

Kilmashenachan, ~eccles. SOE (Kintyre) (0 miles)

St Ninian's Well, Southend (Kintyre) (0.53 miles)

St Ninian's Lands, Southend, Kintyre (1.41 miles)

Kilmashenachan, settlement, SOE (Kintyre) (2.2 miles)

Kilbride, ~eccles. SOE (Kintyre) (2.67 miles)

Object Classification

Antiquity

Ecclesiastical

Is linear feature?

No

Notes

The chapel is on the north side of the tiny island of Sanda, off the south tip of Kintyre. There is an early medieval cross-slab at the site, and a 'St Ninian's Well' (q.v.) nearby, which is mentioned in c.1630. But early OS 6 inch maps (1st edn, 1843 x 1882; 2nd edn, 1892 x 1905) do not attribute any dedication to the chapel. In the early seventeenth century a story was recorded that fourteen sons of a holy Irish man, Senchan (Senchanij), were buried beside the chapel on the island of nearby Sanda, their bodies covered by seven large polished stones. A story was told about a shinty-ball being knocked into the burial ground by accident, and a fearful young man putting one hand and one foot into the sacred space to extricate the ball: 'During the middle of the night the youth expires. All praise Go, and subsequently venerate the sacred bodies with greater devotion' (Cox 2010, 90-93). The same source records the presence of 'the forearm of St Ultan' on the island (brachium Sancti Ultani) which, enclosed in a silver case, was carefully preserved ... by a nobleman of the renowned family of the MacDonnells' (ibid).

Relationships with other parishes

Within Southend, modern parish (Kintyre)

Relationships with other places

Within St Ninian's Lands, Southend, Kintyre

Adjacent St Ninian's Well, Southend (Kintyre)