The stones and bell of St Finans Isle

We wouldn't dream of making a journey on Loch Shiel and not visiting st Finan's Isle.  The island is named for Finan, a saint of the early Celtic church who was also known as "Finan the Leper" from the disease which afflicted him.  Details of his life aren't completely clear but he is believed to have followed Columba from Ireland and became Abbot of the monastery he established on this small island.  He lived from around 520-600AD and is thought to have died at Clonmore in his native Ireland.

The location of the monastery may seem withdrawn and remote to the modern mind, but in Finan's time waterways were the main method of travel and this island was on a main travel route.  Finan is believed to have carried Christianity into much of Argyllshire and further afield, apart from the nearby Glenfinnan and Kilfinnan his name crops up in places such as St Finzean's Fair in Perth and Finzean in distant Aberdeenshire.  The names of these early pioneers from the Celtic church reach out across what were the Pictish kingdoms as he church made a determined effort to convert the Picts.

The island has been in use as a holy place down 1200 years, firstly as a monastery and then as a graveyard - use which continues to the present day.

One of the most prominent monuments on the island is a celtic cross commemorating the Rev Charles McDonald, priest of the diocese of Argyll and the Isles.  The stonework is really fine (some closer views of this side of the stone are here)......

......and the reverse side of the column is hardly plain.

The oldest of the grave markers are grouped together near to the summit of the domed island, simple slabs of stone, some of which my have borne inscriptions.

Occupying the only flat ground near the top is the ruined stone buildings which succeeded the timber and thatch of the earlier monastery buildings.  It's a simple enough complex of two stone buildings, one of which was a chapel, but there are remarkable artefacts here.

In an alcove at the end of the chapel is a very old cross with a crucifixion image on it.  Worn and weathered, it exudes age.  A wooden boat shaped vessel at the foot of the cross often has coins left on it - today there was the stump of a votive candle.  This cross alone would be an important artefact...but it's what is on the alter stone next to it which makes this such a special site.

This hand bell is cast in seamless bronze and was produced in the 10th century.  For 1100 years it has been here, surviving Viking raids, countless wars and local feuds and the upheavals within both church and state in the intervening period.

Almost anywhere else this might have been removed by theft or taken away to a museum many miles away....but it's still here, secured by a chain to the altar it has been associated with for all the centuries......just remarkable and quite uplifting.  Of course, there's a curse associated with it; whoever would remove it would have a very short and painful existence awaiting them!  Astonishingly, this 1100 year old bell rings as clear and true as the day it was cast and finished....as we can confirm having rung it on a previous visit.....how many modern products will still be fully functional in a century's time?!

As with each visit we make to this special place, we left the chapel with a sense of calm and thoughtfulness. 

Descending around the summit area, one of the older grave slabs bears a vivid representation of mortality - our forebears were somewhat more pragmatic about such things it seems.

Heading back to our boats the path goes through a group of stones which look really old but are believed to date from the 18th century....quite late in the history of this place.  They certainly are a good fit here though.

A little way above the jetty is (to my knowledge) the only war grave on St Finan's Isle.  The stone commemorates Deckhand Dugald Grant, son of Peter Grant of Dalilea, Glenfinnan, who died whilst serving in HMS Vernon, the Royal Navy's torpedo and mine warfare school in Portsmouth.  The record on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website is, as so often, both poignant and fascinating. 

We returned to our boats, each of us with our own thoughts and memories of Eilean Fhianain, for all of us it remains a compelling place to visit.  For now though, our thoughts turned from the past to the future - it was time to get back onto the water.