Saint Cathan | |
---|---|
Born | Unknown |
Died | Unknown |
Venerated in | Scottish Episcopal Church Eastern Orthodox Church |
Feast | 17 May |
Saint Cathan, also known as Catan, Cattan, etc., was a 6th-century Irish monk revered as a saint in parts of the Scottish Hebrides.
This Saint appears in the Aberdeen Breviary , Walter Bower's Scotichronicon , and the Acta Sanctorum , and a number of placenames in western Scotland are associated with him. [1] [2]
He is said to have been one of the first Irish missionaries to come to the Isle of Bute, then part of the Gaelic Kingdom of Dál Riata.
Very little is known of him; he is generally only mentioned in connection with his more famous nephew Saint Blane, who was born on Bute and later proselytized among the Picts. Both saints were strongly associated with Bute and with Kingarth monastery, which became the center of their cults. [3] [4]
A number of churches were dedicated to Cathan across Scotland's western islands.
Cathan is said to have lived for a time at the monastery at Stornoway on the isle of Lewis, and his relics are said to have been housed at a chapel founded by Clan MacLeod on the same island. [9]
Cathan's name survives in the various toponyms in the area containing the element Chattan (where the first consonant is lenited), such as:
all on Bute. [3]
His feast day is 17 May. [11]
Several families on Bute bore the honoured name of Mac-gill-chattan—son of the servant of Catan and on account of the frequent occurrence of names similarly connected with those of saints who had churches dedicated to them in this vicinity e.g., Mac-gill-munn, Macgill-chiaran, Mac-gill-mhichell,—and connected with church offices, Mac-gill-espy (bishop), Mac-gill-Christ etc.
Cattanachs are said to be families that followed or were originally servants or Coarbs of this Saint and include founder families such as Macbean, MacPherson, and MacPhail [12] of the Chattan Confederation, a coalition of Scottish clans. [9]
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: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)The Battle of Harlaw was a Scottish clan battle fought on 24 July 1411 just north of Inverurie in Aberdeenshire. It was one of a series of battles fought during the Middle Ages between the barons of northeast Scotland against those from the west coast.
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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, Ardchattan and Muckairn had a population of 2,443, between them. Its name derives from the 6th-century Irish monk Saint Cathan, combined with the Goidelic element ard-, or "heights".
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