Catholic Scotland




Many thanks to Eloise, a friend of this blog, who referred me to this site relating the story of Eskadale Church, Strathglas, in the Chisholm country of northern Scotland. There are a few more pictures here and a history of the church and her gallant priests who braved arrest and mistreatment to serve their people.

That the chapel was considered grand for its time betrays its denomination. All around, gravestones of its erstwhile priests, parishioners and benefactors tell of the faith of the dead. For St Mary’s stands in one of the few districts in the Highlands where the inhabitants adhered to their Catholic faith, long after their Chief, The Chisholm, changed his allegiance. It is hard to believe that so large a Roman Catholic chapel was built as far back as 1827, only 34 years after the passing of the Catholic Relief Act which gave freedom of worship to Roman Catholics. Built by another Chief of the area, the 12th Lord Lovat, St Mary’s is quite different from the few Catholic churches in existence at that time throughout the Highlands - usually barn-like structures, with no windows and a mud floor. No barn this, its windows filling the nave with a light that must have been a revelation to the tenants of the nineteenth century, the traceried rose window being added in the east gable in 1881: a constant source of wonder for the congregation of Eskadale who, at the turn of the century, numbered over 800.

That the people of the Strath stuck to their faith so stubbornly over the centuries says much for their strength of character, although resistance to change must have been partly due to the lack of means of communication in their remote glens. Nevertheless, a determined effort to destroy Catholicism led to the area being without any priests for almost 100 years - the Chisholms of Strathglass having no active defender of their ancient Faith. The latter part of the seventeenth century, however, saw the arrival of the apostle of Strathglass, Mr Robert Munro, a secular priest.

A wonderful tale. Read the rest here.