The Riasg Buidhe Cross is a cross standing in the gardens of Colonsay House on the Inner Hebridean island of Colonsay, Scotland. It takes its name from the now abandoned and ruined village of Riasg Buidhe, about 1+1⁄2 miles (2.5 kilometres) southeast of Colonsay House, where it was found in the nineteenth century.
Dating from the 7th or 8th century, the cross stood at Riasg Buidhe in what was recorded as an old burial ground until 1870, when it was taken to Colonsay House close to Kiloran (Scottish Gaelic : Cill Odhráin) which was built in 1722. The cross was placed beside Tobar Oran (English: The well of St. Oran) and in the vicinity of the now lost Chapel of St. Oran.
One side of the cross shows a solemn face with distinctive eyebrows and ears, below which extends a long thin neck. The arms of the figure - presumably Christ - are represented by two opposite spirals, and the lower part of the body ends in a fishtail, perhaps referring to the ancient Christian tradition of representing Christ as a fish.
The other side of the cross may be intended to represent a penis, as some have suggested.
Iona is a small island in the Inner Hebrides, off the Ross of Mull on the western coast of Scotland. It is mainly known for Iona Abbey, though there are other buildings on the island. Iona Abbey was a centre of Gaelic monasticism for three centuries and is today known for its relative tranquility and natural environment. It is a tourist destination and a place for spiritual retreats. Its modern Scottish Gaelic name means "Iona of (Saint) Columba".
The Inner Hebrides is an archipelago off the west coast of mainland Scotland, to the south east of the Outer Hebrides. Together these two island chains form the Hebrides, which experience a mild oceanic climate. The Inner Hebrides comprise 35 inhabited islands as well as 44 uninhabited islands with an area greater than 30 hectares. Skye, Mull, and Islay are the three largest, and also have the highest populations. The main commercial activities are tourism, crofting, fishing and whisky distilling. In modern times the Inner Hebrides have formed part of two separate local government jurisdictions, one to the north and the other to the south. Together, the islands have an area of about 4,130 km2 (1,594 sq mi), and had a population of 18,948 in 2011. The population density is therefore about 4.6 inhabitants per square kilometre.
Argyll, sometimes called Argyllshire, is a historic county and registration county of western Scotland.
Oronsay, also sometimes spelt and pronounced Oransay by the local community, is a small tidal island south of Colonsay in the Scottish Inner Hebrides with an area of 543 hectares.
Lochbuie is a settlement on the Isle of Mull in Scotland about 22 kilometres (14 mi) west of Craignure.
Orans, a loanword from Medieval Latin orans translated as "one who is praying or pleading", also orant or orante, as well as lifting up holy hands, is a posture or bodily attitude of prayer, usually standing, with the elbows close to the sides of the body and with the hands outstretched sideways, palms up. The orans posture of prayer has a Scriptural basis in 1 Timothy 2:8: "I desire, then, that in every place the men should pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or argument" (NRSV). It was common in early Christianity and can frequently be seen in early Christian art, being advised by several early Church Fathers, who saw it as "the outline of the cross". In modern times, the orans position is still preserved in Oriental Orthodoxy, as when Coptic Christian believers pray the seven canonical hours of the Agpeya at fixed prayer times; The orans also occurs within parts of the Catholic, Oriental Orthodox, Eastern Orthodox, Lutheran, and Anglican liturgies, Pentecostal and charismatic worship, and the ascetical practices of some religious groups.
Little Colonsay is an uninhabited island west of the island of the Isle of Mull in Scotland. The geology of the island is columnar basalt, similar to that of neighbouring Staffa. It is part of the Loch Na Keal National Scenic Area, one of 40 in Scotland.
Iona Abbey is an abbey located on the island of Iona, just off the Isle of Mull on the West Coast of Scotland.
Clan Macfie is a Highlands Scottish Clan.
Colonsay House is a Georgian country house on the island of Colonsay, in the Scottish Inner Hebrides. It is a Category B listed building, and is now in the ownership of the Barons Strathcona. The gardens are open to the public, and are listed on the Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland, the national listing of historic gardens.
Hinba is an island in Scotland of uncertain location that was the site of a small monastery associated with the Columban church on Iona. Although a number of details are known about the monastery and its early superiors, and various anecdotes dating from the time of Columba of a mystical nature have survived, modern scholars are divided as to its whereabouts. The source of information about the island is Adomnán's late 7th-century Vita Columbae.
Colonsay is an island in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland, located north of Islay and south of Mull. The ancestral home of Clan Macfie and the Colonsay branch of Clan MacNeil, it is in the council area of Argyll and Bute and has an area of 4,074 hectares. Aligned on a south-west to north-east axis, it measures 8 miles in length and reaches 3 mi (5 km) at its widest point.
Jura is an island in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland, adjacent to and northeast of Islay. With an area of 36,692 hectares (142 sq mi), and 196 inhabitants recorded in the 2011 census, Jura is more sparsely populated than Islay, and is one of the least densely populated islands of Scotland: in a list of the islands of Scotland ranked by size, Jura comes eighth, whereas by population it comes 31st. The island is mountainous, bare and largely infertile, covered by extensive areas of blanket bog.
Islay is the southernmost island of the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. Known as "The Queen of the Hebrides", it lies in Argyll just south west of Jura and around 40 kilometres north of the Northern Irish coast. The island's capital is Bowmore where the distinctive round Kilarrow Parish Church and a distillery are located. Port Ellen is the main port.
Dùn Eibhinn, also known as Dun Evan, Dun Eivan or Fort of Eyvind, is a hillfort located on the Inner Hebridean island of Colonsay, Scotland. The site is located at grid reference NR38209437.
The Chapel of St. Oran, was a chapel dedicated to Saint Oran at Kiloran located on the Inner Hebridean island of Colonsay, Scotland. It was located at grid reference NR39489678.
St Cathan's Chapel is a ruined chapel on the island of Colonsay, Scotland in the Inner Hebrides. It was dedicated to Cathan, an obscure saint once venerated across the western Scottish islands. It is located at grid reference NR3629095026, in the settlement of Lower Kilchattan.
The Rhinns complex is a deformed Palaeoproterozoic igneous complex that is considered to form the basement to the Colonsay Group of metasedimentary rocks. The largest outcrop of the complex is on the Rhinns of Islay, from where the complex gets its name. It has also been recognised in three other inliers extending to the southwest as far as Inishtrahull, off the north coast of Donegal.
William Galloway (1830–1897) was a 19th-century architect mainly remembered as an architectural historian. He also worked as an architectural illustrator and photographer.
