List of Iona place-names beginning with 'C'
Caibeal Muire | St Mary’s Chapel
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV), Iona (IOX)
Classification: Antiquity, Ecclesiastical
Grid reference: NM2869324422
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 13m
Elements: G caibeal + pn Muire
Translation: St Mary’s Chapel
Description:
This name applies to a small stone building situated to the south of the Cathedral, towards the shore. The building, perhaps built in the thirteenth century, is now much dilapidated, with only some parts of the north and south walls still standing, to a height of less than 3 metres, while a deep pile of rubble (presumably stones from the collapsed walls) lies within the outline of the building.
While the dedication of the chapel to Mary does not appear in any written record until the eighteenth century, this is not particularly unusual for the island’s names. There is no way of knowing whether or not this was its medieval dedication when it was built, but it may well be an authentic memory of the local community. It should be noted that there is evidence from as early as the 7th century of the cult of the Virgin Mary on Iona, so a medieval or early medieval chapel in her honour would be entirely in keeping with other indications, both textual and sculptural (see T. O. Clancy ‘The Virgin Mary on Iona: a Christmas essay’, in T. O. Clancy et al. Iona’s Namescape: Investigations and Reflections (Glasgow, 2025)).
One thing to note is that the wider field in which the chapel sits has or had a number of other monuments bearing saints’ names: a lost Crois Bhrianain | St Brendan’s Cross; and two wells, Tobar Odhrain and Tobar a’ Cheathain, the latter of which may have a saint’s name in it.
It has been remarked that the ‘Street’ shown on Douglas 1769 map of Iona runs straight from the ‘Nunnery’ towards the ‘Cathedral’, but veers to the east just before reaching the Cathedral and goes past the west end of Caibeal Mhuire | St Mary’s Chapel (un-named on the plan), as if to lead pilgrims there: ‘This may suggest that the chapel was regularly visited by medieval pilgrims to Iona, rather than being reserved for the private use of the monastic community’ (Argyll 4, 245). That may be the case, though there may be other explanations for this layout, including access for local people to the grazing or farmland between the abbey and the shore.
The OS Name Books note: ‘Applies to the ruin of an Ancient Chapel dedicated to St. Mary between 1200 & 1203 situated immediately south of St. Mary's Cathedral and about 1/4 mile north of Baile Mòr. On the property of the Duke of Argyll.’ (OS1/2/37/11)
Calbha | Calva
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV), Iona (IOX)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NM2829025722
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 9m
Elements: en Calbha
Translation: This adapts an existing name of a landscape feature: see entry for Eilean Chalbha.
Description:
The grassland bordering the coast at the north end of Iona was part of the East End, one of two land divisions in the 18th century. It provided good arable and pasture for cattle. In 1802, under the landowner, the 5th Duke of Argyll, the island was re-organised into 30 small-holdings, or crofts, two of which were located here and named Calbha, usually spelled Calva locally, after the offshore island of the same name (s.v. Eilean Chalbha). OS Name Book entry: ‘A farmsteading with offices attached at the northeast end of Iona. Property of His Grace the Duke of Argyll.’ (OS1/2/37/3)
As noted by Dugald MacArthur, there had been no house in Calva since 1966 when they stopped working the land there (TAD ID 84012 part 1 41:45). However, the foundations of two houses, with adjoining stackyards, were still visible in the 1980s (see image). There was also a drystone wall around what was a vegetable garden for the crofting families.
Surnames linked with Calva are MacDonald, Black and Campbell. A Colin Campbell was still there at the 1841 Census but went to Australia in 1852. Ronald MacDonald was listed as a tenant in the 1779 estate list of Iona’s inhabitants (see MacArthur 1989 vol 2, p. 54), along with his younger brother John; and a gravestone dated 1813 names the islander who erected it as ‘Ronald MacDonald tenant Calva’. John MacDonald and family were at Calva in the census records from 1841 to 1881 but they emigrated in 1889 after which the land was first held in common by the East End tenants until it was allotted to the MacArthurs at Clachanach.
Dugald MacArthur described how they would go over to Calva daily from Clachanach, especially at lambing time when his father would be there at least three times a day. He also notes that both Eilean Chalbha and Rèidh-Eilean ‘went with Calva’ (TAD ID 84465 9:10; 21:40). The link between Clachanach and Calva is reflected in the transfer of the name Calva to one of the houses at Clachanach (s.v. Calva). In a similar instance of name transfer, Dugald MacFarlane and his wife, Marion MacInnes, who had emigrated to Australia in 1865, named their property there after the name of the Iona croft; Calva (MacArthur 1990, p. 215).
Calva
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV), Iona (IOX)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NM2870224870
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 26m
Elements: en Calva
Translation: Translation: This adapts an existing name of a landscape feature: see entry for Calbha ~ Calva.
Description:
This entry refers to the house at Clachanach.
From 1889, at which point John MacDonald and his family who had held the croft at Calva emigrated, the land was first held in common by the East End tenants until it was allotted to the MacArthurs at Clachanach. This link between Clachanach and Calva is reflected in the transfer of the name Calva to one of the houses at Clachanach. A small stone house was built for the family at Clachanach (while summer visitors occupied the original big house) and was referred to almost always as 'the wee house'. Eventually a third house was built, named Calva.
The two crofts are linked both by tenancy over a long period and by a short-cut from Clachanach to Calva passing the southern slopes of Dùn Ì.
Camas Cùil an t-Saimh
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV)
Classification: Coastal
Grid reference: NM2616923739
Certainty: 1
Altitude: m
Caolas Annraidh
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV)
Classification: Coastal, Water
Grid reference: NM2943326255
Certainty: 1
Altitude: m
Elements: G caolas + en *Annraidh
Caolas na h-Àird
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV), Iona (IOX)
Classification: Coastal, Water
Grid reference: NM264213
Certainty: 4
Altitude: m
Elements: G caolas + en An Àird
Translation: ‘strait of An Àird’
Description:
Although this place-name does not appear on any maps, it seems likely that it refers to one of the straits near the south-eastern coastline of Iona, taking its name from An Àird (for which see entry). Although there are two separate places named An Àird on Iona, the other one is not located near the coast and is therefore less likely to have been transferred to a name with the generic caolas.
Càrn Buidhe
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV), Iona (IOX)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NM2639222933
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 51m
Elements: G càrn + G buidhe
Translation: 'yellow cairn'
Description:
‘A rocky hill south west of Port Ceann na Creige Sig; “Yellow Cairn”.’ (OS1/2/37/20)
Càrn Cùl ri Èirinn
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV), Iona (IOX)
Classification: Antiquity, Ecclesiastical, Relief
Grid reference: NM2568622342
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 60m
Elements: G càrn + G cùl ri Èirinn
Translation: 'cairn of "back turn towards Ireland"'
Description:
Described in the OS Name Books as ‘A cairn on the summit of Druim an Eunaich, the highest point in the south end of Iona, It is traditionally related that St Columba on landing at Port na Curaich ascended to this point to view the island. On getting to the top his back was turned towards Ireland, hence the name, which signifies “Cairn with back to Ireland”’ (OS1/2/77/143).
This place-name first emerges in the record in the late eighteenth century and became part of the repertoire of stories that were embroidered around the memory of St Columba, relating to his supposed penitential exile from Ireland and his vow that he would never set eyes on his native land again. The legend associated with this place in particular states that because of his vow, Columba climbed this hill and looked back. As he could no longer see Ireland he decided to live in exile here on Iona, far enough from Ireland to fulfil his vow. The legend appears in a letter of John Stewart to Thomas Pennant for example, in 1773:
According to the tradition of the islanders, Columba first [...] Oransay, with views [...] having vowed that [...] in no country [...] could be seen, [...] island, and set out for Iona. After landing it is said that he went directly to the top of the principal eminence in the island, raised a heap of stones upon each, but could not perceive his native country from either of them. The heaps of stone are still shewen –––––
It is interesting that Stuart seems to have been shown cairns, ‘heaps of stone’, at the point where Columba looked back, presumably by local Iona folk. Does this mean that some memory of Columba and his supposed exile had been monumentalised by Iona people, or were pre-existing monuments attached to his memory and to the exile story?
In fact, the Cùl ri Eirinn part of this place-name is rather earlier, appearing in 1532 in the Life of Colum Cille by Manus O’Donnell (O’Donnell 1532, 198-200)
(translation by Gilbert Márkus):
In this poem cùl ri Eirinn ‘back towards Ireland’ appears as a by-name, a nick-name for Columba himself, not yet part of a place-name. Among the many questions surrounding Càrn Cùl Ri Erinn is this: did the place-name arise as a localisation of a short poem about Columba that was circulating in the sixteenth century, or did the poem giving Columba the nick-name Cùl ri Erinn arise from the place-name on Iona?
Another puzzle associated with this name is the fact that it is only one of a little cluster or place-names in Argyll which have the form ‘Càrn Cùl ri X’. There is a Càrn Cùl Ri Eirinn, for example, on the island of Oronsay, 33 km south of Iona. According to Revd Archibald MacMillan (1898, 5) ‘There is a tradition that he [St Columba] first landed at Oronsay, but on discovering that his fatherland was still in sight he could not remain ; there is a cairn called Carn cul-ri Eirin (the hill of turning the back to Ireland) on the top of the hill overlooking the ruins of Oronsay Priory.’ Blaeu shows a Karn cul ri Erin on his map of Mull and Iona (1654), south of Ben More, and beside it Karn culri Allabyn (‘cairn of the back towards Britain’). It seems unlikely that all these names were generated by stories about Columba, and that they are more likely place-names that have arisen from the perception of these hills as ‘backing onto’ certain territories, or enjoying certain views. In that case the Càrn Cùl Ri Eirinn on Iona may simply be one of these, and the name may not originally have had any connection to the Columba legend at all, and the story was only attached to it in the eighteenth century.
Càrn Leth an Rathaid
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV), Iona (IOX)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NM2741322902
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 56m
Elements: G càrn + G leth an rathaid
Translation: 'halfway cairn'
Description:
Of this slightly enigmatic name, Mairi MacArthur remarks, that Calum Cameron of Traighmòr ‘mentioned that there used to be a cairn above Ruanaich which, according to his father, marked the half-way point between the village and the farthest rig which the islanders had to plough and sow. This explanation is entirely possible and takes us straight back to the pre-crofting era before 1802, when most of the population lived around Port Rònain and Port nam Mairtear, but were allocated strips of arable ground across the island by the landlord, in the system known as run-rig. The stones that formed this cairn will have long since tumbled into the heather but, in its day, it was clearly a useful landmark.’ (MacArthur, ‘Tracks & Paths).
Carraig a’ Chaolais
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV), Iona (IOX)
Classification: Coastal, Relief
Grid reference: NM2584221770
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 1m
Elements: G carraig + G an + G caolas
Translation: 'the rock of the strait'
Description:
This rock lies in the narrow stretch of water between the coast of Iona at Làraichean and Eilean Mhùsamuill.
Carraig a’ Mhuiltein
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV), Iona (IOX)
Classification: Coastal, Relief
Grid reference: NM2556622649
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 4m
Elements: G carraig + G an + G muiltean
Translation: 'the rock of the small wether (castrated ram)'
Carraig Àird Annraidh
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NM2936526224
Certainty: 1
Altitude: m
Elements: G carraig + en Àird Annraidh
Translation: 'the rock of Àird Annraidh'
Carraig an Daimh
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV)
Classification: Coastal, Relief
Grid reference: NM2739125592
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 1m
Elements: G carraig + G an + G damh
Translation: 'the rock of the ox'
Description:
‘A rocky point situated at the north end of Iona and close to Port Carraigh an Daimh.
“Sig “Rock of the Ox”’ (OS1/2/37/50)
Carraig Druim Dhùghaill
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV)
Classification: Coastal, Relief
Grid reference: NM2738522158
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 7m
Elements: G carraig + en Druim Dhùghaill
Translation: 'the rock of Druim Dhùghaill'
Carraig MhicGuaire
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV)
Classification: Coastal, Relief
Grid reference: NM2601824226
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 1m
Elements: G carraig + pn MacGuaire
Translation: 'the rock of MacGuaire/MacQuarrie's rock'
Carraig na Feannaig
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV)
Classification: Coastal, Relief
Grid reference: NM2855625959
Certainty: 1
Altitude: m
Elements: G carraig + G an + G feannag
Translation: 'the rock of the crow'
Carraig Tràigh an t-Suidhe
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV)
Classification: Coastal, Relief
Grid reference: NM2883626155
Certainty: 1
Altitude: m
Elements: G carraig + en Tràigh an t-Suidhe
Translation: 'the rock of Tràigh an t-Suidhe'
Cathedral Rock
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV), Iona (IOX)
Classification: Coastal
Grid reference: NM2935526230
Certainty: 1
Altitude: m
Ceann Aindrea
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV), Iona (IOX)
Classification: Coastal, Relief
Grid reference: NM2649324192
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 4m
Elements: G ceann + pn Aindrea
Translation: 'Andrew's headland'
Description:
‘A rocky Knoll south east of Port Pollarain Sig; “Andrew’s “Head”’ (OS1/2/37/17)
Ceann an Ùird
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV), Iona (IOX)
Classification: Coastal, Relief
Grid reference: NM2642121640
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 6m
Elements: G ceann + G an + G òrd
Translation: 'head(land) of the round, steep hill'
Description:
This headland at the south of the island is steep and (from certain angles) rounded. It is because of this that it resembles the head of a hammer or mallet, in Gaelic, òrd, and hence the translations given by various authorities. It is worth noting, however, that òrd is a fairly common topographical term for a rounded hill, mountain or headland. From that point of view, *An Òrd could be an existing name incorporated in Ceann an Ùird.
The OS Name Books say of this feature, ‘Applies to flat rocks at a point between “Port na Curaich”, and “Port Goirtean Iar,” Sig: Head of the hammer.’ (OS1/2/77/145)
Ceann na Creige
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV), Iona (IOX)
Classification: Coastal, Relief
Grid reference: NM2640723135
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 9m
Elements: G ceann + G an + G creag
Translation: 'head(land) of the rock or crag'
Description:
This name refers to the rocky headland at the southern end of the Machair. Although Donaldson gives a plural form for the specific element, other early forms suggest a singular form.
Ceann Sear | East End
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV), Iona (IOX)
Classification: Other
Grid reference: NM2902925796
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 14m
Elements: G ceann + G sear
Translation: 'east end'
Ceapach
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV)
Classification: Field
Grid reference: NM2812023434
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 7m
Elements: G ceapach
Translation: 'plot of cleared land' (probably)
Cill Chainnich
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV), Iona (IOX)
Classification: Antiquity, Ecclesiastical
Grid reference: NM2849324243
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 17m
Elements: G cill + pn Cainneach
Translation: 'the church of St Cainneach'
(modern Gaelic Coinneach, generally anglicised as Kenneth)
Description:
The earliest attestation of this name is by Reeves in 1857, where the author notes that it was the name of ‘a small chapel which stood close to the site of the present Parish Church. The foundations were removed some years ago, and a few tombstones are all that remain to mark the cemetery’ (1857, 417; Argyll 4, 244).
It may be that the antiquity of this site is confirmed by the presence of an early medieval cross-carved stone that was ‘thought to be from the former burial-ground of Cill Chainnech’. Of course that ‘thought to be’ leaves the matter in some doubt (Argyll 4, 181). A late medieval tombstone and ‘a cross-shaft of the same period’ have also been found on or near this site (Argyll 4, 244). But even if the site is that of an early medieval, or later medieval, church, the dedication may not be so ancient. It is impossible to say now, given that its earliest attestation is in 1857,
Cainnech was certainly culted on Iona in the seventh century. He appears on various occasions in Adomnán’s Vita Columbae, where the writer has Columba refer to him as ‘a holy and chosen man’ (sancto et electo homini) (VC I, 4), a ‘holy man’ (sancti uiri) and shows the two saints as in miraculous communication with each other at a distance (VC ii, 13), and celebrating the eucharist together on the island of Hinba (VC iii, 17).
Later writings about Cainnech, however, cast the relationship between Cainnech and Columba in a rather different mould. There has been scholarly debate about the date of Vita Cainnechi with Máire Herbert dating it to the second half of the eighth century, while Pádraig Ó Riain sees it as a twelfth-century composition. It may be that the origins of the text lie in the eighth century while it underwent a degree of rewriting during the Augustinian reforms of the twelfth century. In this Life, Cainnech is portrayed with a strain of anti-Columban polemic throughout. Cainnech’s travels echo those of Columba, but do so in a way which show him to be holier than Columba. (Herbert 2001, 31-40; Ó Riain 2011, 138-9). For text and translation and commentary see Gilbert Márkus, The Life of St Cainnech of Aghaboe. Thomas Charles-Edwards has argued, however, that the rivalry suggested between the two saints may reflect a fairly local dispute in Ireland among their respective churches and kindreds, and so it may hardly have registered on Iona (Charles-Edwards 2004, 79-102, 99). Certainly Cainnech continued to be culted in several places in the west of Scotland, including at the church of Inchkenneth – an island off the Ardmeanach peninsula of Mull – which Monro recorded in 1549 as belonging to the Prioress of the Augustinian nunnery on Iona (Monro, 34). None of this allows us to make any sensible proposal of when a dedication to Cainnech might first have been attached to Cill Chainnich.
Cill MoGhobhannain
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV), Iona (IOX)
Classification: Antiquity, Ecclesiastical
Grid reference: NM2859024705
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 26m
Elements: G cill + pn *Mo Ghobhannan
Translation: 'church or graveyard of St Mo Ghobhannan'
Cill MoNeachdain
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV), Iona (IOX)
Classification: Antiquity, Ecclesiastical
Grid reference: NM2858324752
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 26m
Elements: G cill + pn *Mo Neachdan
Translation: 'church or graveyard of St Mo Neachdan'
Clach a’ Bhainne
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV), Iona (IOX)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NM2857224033
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 4m
Elements: G clach + G an + G bainne
Translation: 'stone of the milk'
Clach Bhràth †
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV), Iona (IOX)
Classification: Antiquity, Ecclesiastical
Grid reference: NM2859324567
Certainty: 3
Altitude: 24m
Clach Chùil
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV)
Classification: Coastal, Relief
Grid reference: NM2775125656
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 4m
Elements: G clach + G cùil
Translation: 'stone of the nook or corner'
Description:
‘A small rocky island, situated half a mile north west of Dùn I.
Sig: “Stone of the Corner”’ (OS1/2/37/46)
Clach nan Laogh
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV), Iona (IOX)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NM2718123407
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 23m
Elements: G clach + G an + G laogh
Translation: 'stone of the calves'
Description:
This stone lies on the north-east side of a pocket of green land, almost entirely enclosed by outcrops of stone, and thus fairly sheltered. Perhaps calves, vulnerable to harsh weather, might have been brought here when during storms.
Clach Staoin
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NM2630122224
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 28m
Elements: G clach + G staoin
Clachan Corrach
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NM2789423844
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 23m
Elements: G clach or G clachan + G corrach
Translation: 'pointed or uneven (?) stones'
Description:
‘A small farmsteading on the roadside between Shian and the village of Baile Mòr. Property of His Grace the Duke of Argyll.’ (OS1/2/37/25)
Clachanach
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV), Iona (IOX)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NM2864824776
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 26m
Translation: 'stony place'
Description:
‘A farmsteading a short distance north of the Cathedral. Property of His Grace the Duke of Argyll.’ (OS1/2/37/7)
Cladh an Dìseirt
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV), Iona (IOX)
Classification: Antiquity, Ecclesiastical
Grid reference: NM2897824828
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 8m
Elements: G cladh + G an + G dìseart or en (An) Dìseart
Translation: 'the burial-place of the "desert" or hermitage'
Description:
This is the name of a site about 400 m NE of the Abbey, but no evidence of any burial archaeology is mentioned in discussion of the site in Argyll 4 or in Canmore (ID 21666) is now visible. However, some medieval carved stones have been found here: an early ‘Celtic’ cross now known as ‘Columba’s Pillow’ was discovered by Dugald MacArthur in the 1870s, after he ‘felt something bump his wheel each time he carted seaweed up from the shore for his crops’ (MacArthur 1997, 75). Its ‘pillowy’ shape reminded antiquarians that Adomnán had mentioned a stone which Columba used as a pillow (VC iii, 23), hence its popular name. The style of the carved cross on the stone, however, suggests a date a good deal after Columba’s death. It had been used at the site to block a drain in the field, so may actually have been brought here for that purpose from another part of the island, but it may also have been used as a grave-marker at Cladh an Dìseirt. Other flat stones which were taken from this site for drain construction (Canmore ID 21666) may also have been burial markers, but as very little archaeological investigation has been conducted here it is hard to be certain. It is described in the OS Name Books (OS1/2/37/2) as follows:
Applies to the ruin of an ancient building supposed to be a Chapel or grave yard but beyond mere Conception no proper information can be procured, situated about 1/4 mile north east of St. Mary's Cathedral and about 1/4 mile east of Clachanach. On the property of His Grace the Duke of Argyll.
The remains of the above mentioned, was discovered by Mr. Skene the Antiquarian during the summer of 1876, while excavating round the “standing stones” and the foundations now are quite disernable leaving no doubt as to its antiquity. Mr. Skene’s translation of the name Cladh nan Duiseart is “The Burying Place Consecrated to the Most High”.
Although cladh means ‘burial ground’, the place-name is generally used to refer to the remains of a building within a spacious enclosure. The small building has been described as possibly the remains of a chapel whose footings survive. Its remains may have been rather more substantial in in the eighteenth century when the 1769 Douglas Estate Plan marked it very clearly as a rectangular building labelled ‘Burial place’. It measured 7.9 m long by 4.2 metres wide (internal dimensions) (Argyll 4, 242). It is not orientated directly east, but rather 22 degrees south of east, and no evidence is recorded of any altar remains at the end where we might expect them, but that may simply be because it has not been properly investigated. To the north of the building is a stretch of turf-covered embankment which arcs around in such a way as to suggest it may have been part of an enclosure for the ‘chapel’, while about three metres west of the building’s SW corner a pair of massive stone posts (which were once topped by a lintel-stone) may have formed the entrance to the enclosure. A stone dyke running NW to SE, to the south of the building, is ‘a fairly recent construction’ (Argyll 4, 242).
The diseart or ‘hermitage’ referred to in the name is presumably the same as that referred to by a small landing-place on the shore about 140 m SE of the building, Port an Diseirt, ‘harbour of the hermitage’. The Gaelic word diseart derives from Latin desertum, literally ‘desert’, but because monastic ascetic retreats were conceived of as desert places the term desertum was used to refer to places where the ascetic life was pursued in some degree of ‘retreat’ or withdrawal from the world. Adomnán several times refers to monks of Iona leaving the island going in search of a desertum, or a heremos (the Greek word for ‘desert’). These desert places, however, were distant islands, not little enclosed buildings on the outskirts of a large monastery, and Adomnán seems to have been profoundly suspicious of such attempts to find them (see Márkus 2024, 1-30, at 26-27). The presence of a diseart on Iona may possibly be suggested by a twelfth-century annal (AU 1164) which lists the members of a delegation of the Iona community who went on a journey in that year, probably Derry, to try to persuade Flaithbertach, abbot of Derry, to come to Iona. One of them is in disertach .i. Mac Gilla Duibh, that is ‘the hermitage-dweller’, or perhaps someone responsible for a hermitage or diseart. We cannot be certain, however, that the diseart where Mac Gilla Duibh lived, or for which he was responsible, was actually on Iona. And even if it was, we cannot be sure that Cladh an Dìseirt is actually where his diseart was. We should keep in mind the possibility that the name Cladh an Dìseirt was coined in the nineteenth century, when it first appears, as part of an antiquarian re-imagining of the old monastic landscape. That re-imagining also included the suggestion, sometimes mooted in the eighteenth century, that Cladh an Dìseirt was actually the original site of Columba’s monastery, which only later moved south to the place where the monastic buildings can be seen today (Pococke 1760, 85). This suggestion is quite without merit.
Another re-imagining of the landscape was offered by Pococke who said of the remains here, ‘I take them to be the remains of a Druid Temple … as this isle was anciently called Inish Drunish, or the Isle of the Druids’ (Pococke 1760, 85). In fact there is no evidence that Iona ever had such a name except in the imagination of modern writers like Pococke, nor that Cladh an Dìseirt was ever a druidic object.
Finally we might note that Reeves’ map of 1857 shows an object called Leacht a short distance south of Cladh an Dìseirt. This Gaelic word is a loan-word from Latin lectus ‘a bed’, but was used in early Gaelic to refer to the ‘bed’ of one’s final resting-place: the grave or tomb. Its range of meaning developed from that to include a class of square monuments which looked a bit like a tomb (and in some cases may have included a burial) and which were used as ritual moments in a procession or turas in a ritual landscape. Nothing seems to survive of this leacht today, but its proximity to Cladh an Dìseirt raises the possibility that the cladh was a focus of ritual or processional activity (see further discussion on leacht in O’Sullivan and Ó Carragáin 2008, 320-23).
Cladh Iain
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV), Iona (IOX)
Classification: Antiquity, Ecclesiastical
Grid reference: NM2897824838
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 8m
Elements: G cladh + pn Iain
Translation: 'burial-place of (St) Iain or John'
Cladh na Meirghe
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV), Iona (IOX)
Classification: Antiquity, Ecclesiastical
Grid reference: NM2791324374
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 31m
Elements: G cladh + G an + G meirghe
Translation: 'burial-place of the signal or banner'
Description:
It is likely that this spot was named after the ‘signal or banner’ associated with nearby Cnoc na Meirghe (‘hill of the signal/banner’), on which such a signal or banner was once established. It is worth noting that although OG meirge ‘battle-standard, flag, banner’, is masculine (DIL), on Iona (as elsewhere in Scotland, see Dwelly), it seems to have become feminine.
According to Peter MacInnes (TAD ID84321, around 1.00) Cnoc na Meirghe was ‘named after a settlement of people way back in the long ago, known as na Meirg/the Meirg.’
Cladh nam Mairtireach
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV), Iona (IOX)
Classification: Antiquity, Ecclesiastical
Grid reference: NM283238
Certainty: 3
Altitude: 6m
Elements: G cladh + G an + G mairtireach
Translation: 'burial-ground of the martyrs'
Description:
The NGR given here is for the general area around Martyrs’ Bay, but we know of no archaeological evidence for any burial ground in this area in addition to those which go by other names. As Cladh nam Mairtireach occurs only once in the record, and is accompanied by a rather improbable explanation, it may be a reference to one of these other graveyards (An Eala, Cladh nan Druineach, Cladh Rònain) and the name results from a confusion with the ‘martyrs’ of Martyrs’ Bay.
Cladh nan Druineach
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV), Iona (IOX)
Classification: Antiquity, Ecclesiastical
Grid reference: NM2836023756
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 4m
Elements: G cladh + G an + G druineach
Translation: 'burial place of the ?embroideresses'
Description:
In spite of constant attempts since the eighteenth century to attach Cladh nan Druineach to some supposedly ‘druidic’ presence on the island, this whole legend originates in a misunderstanding of the name. G druinneach (OG druinech) derives from OG druine ‘skill in craftsmanship, dexterity, handiwork’, and is often used to refer to the work of embroidery. See also OG druin ‘skilful, clever’ (DIL). It has nothing to do with druids.
One interesting feature of the history of G druinneach, however, is that although it is not an intrinsically gendered role, the word is often used in particular of skilful women, and particularly women embroiderers. This DIL gives ‘needlewoman, embroideress’ as its first definition of the word. The twelfth-century notes on the ninth-century Félire Óengusso discuss the identity of Ercnat whose feast was on 8th January. Here it is said: ‘Her name, however, in truth was Ercnat, that is an embroideress (druinech), for ercad in the Old Gaelic is now rinnaigecht (‘drawing’), for it was that virgin who was embroideress, cutter and sewer of raiment to Columcille with his disciples’ (Félire Óengusso 42-3). Likewise, in the Tripartite Life of St Patrick, we hear of twenty-four people ‘who were in orders with Patrick’ (boi innurd la Pátraic), and among them are ‘his three druinecha, i.e. Lupaid, Erc daughter of Daire, and Cruimtheris in Cengoba’ (Vit. Triip. 264-66). And it is worth noting here that these ‘embroideresses’ have a particularly ecclesiastical feel to them. First they are ‘in orders with Patrick’, suggesting that they are structured into his church organisation in some way, and secondly the third of them, Cruimtheris, which seems to be a female version of cruimther ‘priest’. Cruimther is a Gaelic derivative of old British Latin presbyter ‘priest’, so we might suggest that cruimtheris is derived from Latin presbyterissa ‘priestess’ or ‘priest’s wife’. These, and other examples cited by DIL, suggest that druinneach might actually represent a women’s ecclesiastical role, a role in which women attached to a church used a particular skill in serving that church and were a recognised part of the ecclesiastical landscape.
We should remember in this context that close to Cladh nan Druineach on the shore of Martyrs’ Bay, is An Eala, an early medieval burial ground which was excavated and found to contain the bones of several women who, as far as could be ascertained from the bones, had never borne children. This strongly suggests that there were nuns associated with this area of the island in the early monastic period. Could they also have been the ‘embroideresses’ assoicated with Cladh nan Druineach, making vestments for the liturgical life of the monastery for example?
It should be noted, however, that druinneach can also refer to male craftsmen. An island on Loch Awe, for example, was called Innis Draoinich ‘island of craftsmen’, supposedly because of the stone-masons producing grave-slabs on the site. They were almost certainly male (Carmichael, Carmina Gadelica ii, 270).
Cladh Rònain
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV), Iona (IOX)
Classification: Antiquity, Ecclesiastical
Grid reference: NM2848424131
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 15m
Elements: G cladh + pn Rònan (St)
Translation: 'burial ground of St Rònan (or Rònnad)'
Clais Domhain
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NM2685322983
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 36m
Elements: G clais + G domhain
Translation: 'deep gully'
Cnoc a’ Bhodaich
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NM2610222450
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 32m
Elements: G cnoc + G an + G bodach
Translation: 'hill of the old man'
Cnoc a’ Chnàmh
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NM2758123474
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 17m
Elements: G cnoc + G an + G cnàimh
Translation: 'hill of the bone'
Cnoc a’ Choilich
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NM2799325243
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 43m
Elements: G cnoc + G an + G coileach
Translation: 'hill of the cock'
Cnoc a’ Chròtha
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV), Iona (IOX)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NM2740425278
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 18m
Cnoc an Aon Bhealaich
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NM2887325560
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 20m
Elements: G cnoc + G an + G aon + G bealach
Translation: 'hill of the single pass or gap'
Cnoc an Fhaing Chaoil
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NM2769323169
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 33m
Elements: G cnoc + en *An Fhaing Chaol
Translation: 'hill of (am) Fang Caol'
Cnoc an Fhìona
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NM2696022459
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 59m
Elements: G cnoc + G an + G fìon
Translation: 'hill of the wine'
Cnoc an Lochain
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NM2887325411
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 23m
Elements: G cnoc + G an + G lochan
Translation: 'hill of the lochan (small loch)'
Cnoc an Nòis
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV), Iona (IOX)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NM2792623375
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 12m
Translation: 'hill of An Nòs'
Cnoc an Ruamhair
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NM2753823585
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 16m
Elements: G cnoc + G an + G ruamhar
Translation: 'hill of the digging'
Cnoc an t-Suidhe
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NM2891325855
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 13m
Elements: G cnoc + G an + G suidhe
Translation: 'hill of the seat'
Cnoc an Tobair
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NM2803823526
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 10m
Elements: G cnoc + G an + G tobar
Translation: 'hill of the well'
Description:
‘A rocky Knoll west of Cnoc Ciarain. A well by the side of the road at its base supplies the name. Meaning “Knoll of the Spring”’ (OS1/2/37/37)
Cnoc Aobhrain
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV), Iona (IOX)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NM2792023758
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 20m
Elements: G cnoc + G adhb(h)ran(n)
Translation: 'hill of (the) ankle'
Description:
This is a small hill off the side of the road coming out from am Baile Mòr to the Machair, opposite the croft of Clachan Corrach. Only Reeves' map shows the name. It is in Munro Fraser's list, but not on The Ritchie map, possibly owing to it being right next to the page-join.
Reeves’ explanation for the second element of the name ('Hill of the Mass'), which was followed by Munro Fraser, is highly implausible. Early Gaelic oifrend, ‘mass’, later aiffrenn, in ScG aifreann, really cannot have been rendered as aobhrain. It seems likely that this was simply Reeves’ best guess for a word he could not parse.
Instead, it seems clear that we should take this as a dialectal form of a Gaelic word for ankle or ankle-bone. In OG this was odbrann, in ScG usually adhbrann, but with many dialectal variations. MacEachan’s Dictionary renders it as aobhrann, as does Calder’s, and other dialect forms reflect a reduction of the final syllable to -an. Roibeard Ó Maolalaigh (2020, 251-64), in his comprehensive study of Gaelic words for ‘ankle’, has noted all the various sound changes reflected in the form here. Of the form aobhrann in the two dictionaries mentioned, he notes ‘No such variant is found in the modern dialectological record, and it is most likely a typographical error in both sources’, continuing ‘[i]t is possible, though highly unlikely, that -bh- is genuine’ (264). However, it is likely that our place-name represents exactly this variant, with the further development of -ann to -an. As Ó Maolalaigh notes (262), this latter development is common in Argyll.
Why 'hill of (the) ankle'? It is difficult to be certain, but at least from some angles the hill has the appearance of an ankle bone, particularly a cow or pig ankle bone.
References: Roibeard Ó Maolalaigh (2020), ‘Lexical and phonological variation in words for ‘ankle’ in Gaelic’, in Scotha cennderca cen on: A Festschrift for Séamus Mac Mathúna, ed. Ailbhe Ó Corráin, Fionntán de Brún and Maxim Fomin (Uppsala), 247–88.
Cnoc Bàn
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV), Iona (IOX)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NM2872325322
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 26m
Elements: G cnoc + G bàn
Translation: ‘white hill’
Description:
A hill located at the eastern side of Dùn Ì, ca. 39m in altitude. The name likely refers to the comparatively light colouring of the rockface in contrast with surrounding hillocks, which is visible on satellite images. However, as noted in PNF (vol. 5, p. 531), various terms denoting a white colour can also be used in the context of grazing quality, with bàn in the sense of ‘vacant, waste’ (in Dwelly s.v. bàn). For pronunciation see TAD ID 84012 part 2, 3:10.
Cnoc Beul Mòr
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NM2591522560
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 17m
Elements: G cnoc + en (Am) Beul Mòr
Translation: 'the hill of Am Beul Mòr'
Cnoc Briste
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NM2801223809
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 22m
Elements: G cnoc + G briste
Translation: 'broken hill'
Description:
This is one of a number of hills in the fields between Sligineach and Maol, many of which have been placed on different features by different maps over time. This name seems to refer to an indistinct hill across from Clachan Corrach, which has the impression of having been broken into many smaller hills (hence the name).The OS Name Book description, ‘A small rocky knoll between Cnoc Cas and Clachancorrach. Meaning “Broken Knoll”’, seems accurate, although it seems slightly misplaced on the OS map.
Cnoc Bristeadh Chlach
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NM2861624803
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 26m
Elements: G cnoc + G bristeadh + G clach
Translation: 'hill of breaking stones'
Cnoc Buidhe
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NM2880425740
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 15m
Elements: G cnoc + G buidhe
Translation: 'yellow hill'
Cnoc Cas
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NM2815323876
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 21m
Elements: G cnoc + G cas
Translation: 'steep hill'
Description:
Cnoc Cas is the name of the hill which flanks Bealach Gaoithe, the road which runs up from Baile Mòr to the farm of Maol. The names of this hill and many others in the vicinity have been placed on different features across a variety of maps: the Reeves, OS, Ritchie and Iona Community maps. However, the meanign of the name and the placement of this hill seems to secure this identification. As such we should take the description in the Ordnance Survey Name Books (‘A small rocky knoll immediately north of Cnoc Leathan. Meaning “Steep Knoll”’ (OS1/2/37/23)) in the most general terms. This description seems to have led to its misplacement on the OS 6" 1st edition map, and perhaps had knock-on effects on the misplacement of other names in the vicinity (e.g. Cnoc Briste, q.v.).
Cnoc Ceann an Locha
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NM2657822680
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 47m
Elements: G cnoc + en *Ceann an Locha
Translation: 'the hill of *Ceann an Locha'
Cnoc Chaman
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NM2817825094
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 53m
Elements: G cnoc + G caman
Translation: 'hill of (the) bends'
Cnoc Cheann an Amair
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV), Iona (IOX)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NM2589722790
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 7m
Elements: G cnoc + en *Ceann an Amair
Cnoc Ciarain
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NM2815423541
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 7m
Elements: G cnoc + pn Ciaran
Translation: 'hill of (St?) Ciaran'
Description:
This is one of a number of hills in the district of Sligineach, lying just north of the road leading away from Traigh Mòr towards the Machair. The name most likely refers to St Ciarán, since the name was otherwise not a common one in medieval or modern Scotland. There were two prominent Irish saints of this name; the one referred to here is most likely St Ciarán of Clonmacnoise (d. 549). Adomnán's Life refers to Columba visiting Clonmacnoise (VC i.3), and there are also references to Adomnán's own involvement with that monastery (see T. O. Clancy, 'Adomnán and tha abbacy of Clonmacnois: historical needs, literary narratives', The Innes Review 57 (2006), 206-15). There is good evidence for his cult in the region, for instance at Cill Chiarain on Islay.
As can be seen in that place-name, one might normally expect lenition of the first letter of Ciaran's name, but it is likely that this has been blocked by its following on from the final consonant of cnoc, a homorganic consonant. This is a feature that can be seen elsewhere, for instance Cnoc Coinnich on Islay (v. Cnoc Choinnich in Kimonivaig parish).
OS Name Book records for this feature: ‘A small rocky Knoll about a quarter of a mile southwest of Port nam Mairtir. Meaning “Ciarain's Knoll. All the knolls around the district of Sligneach, presenting as they do a prominent appearance, are supposed to have had crosses upon them.’ (OS1/2/37/37)' It is not clear if there had been a cross present on this particular hill, to prompt this comment. We are not aware of any other record of such.
OSNB (OS1/2/37/37)
Authorities for spelling:
Mr. James McArthur, Iona,
Mr. John McDonald, Postmaster, Iona
Mr. Dugald McCormick, farmer, Iona
Descriptive remarks:
A small rocky Knoll about a quarter of a mile southwest of Port nam Mairtir. Meaning “Ciarain's Knoll.
All the knolls around the district of Sligneach, presenting as they do a prominent appearance, are supposed to have had crosses upon them.
Signed J. MacLean
Sapper R.E. [p. 36]
Cnoc Cùil Phàil
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV), Iona (IOX)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NM2888125269
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 22m
Elements: G cnoc + en Cùil Phàil
Translation: ‘hill of Cùil Phàil’
Description:
This small hillock lying adjacent to the dwelling contains the existing name of the sheltered hollow next to it in which a dwelling was built, variously called Cùil Phàil or Cnoc Cùil Phàil, anglicised as Cnoc-Culphail.
Cnoc Daraich
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NM2867224893
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 27m
Elements: G cnoc + G darach
Translation: 'hill of (the) oak'
Cnoc Driseach
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NM2754123581
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 16m
Elements: G cnoc + G driseach
Translation: 'brambly hill'
Cnoc Druidean
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NM2713723125
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 44m
Elements: G cnoc + G druid
Translation: 'hill of (the) starlings or thrushes'
Description:
‘A rocky Knoll east of the south end of A’ Mhachair Sig; “Hill of the Thrushes”’ (OS1/2/37/22)
Cnoc Dubh
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NM2712123389
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 22m
Elements: G cnoc + G dubh
Translation: 'black hill'
Cnoc Earrann na Sgillinn
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NM2811223614
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 11m
Elements: G cnoc + G earrann + G an + G sgillinn
Translation: 'hill of the portion of the shilling or penny'
Description:
This name refers to one of the hills in the fields between Sligineach and Maol. It appears on the Ritchie map only as Earrann na sgillinn, but presumably is meant to denote the hill since there is no Earrann na sgillinn in the appendix, only Cnoc Earrann na Sgillinn. The name is located right at the edge of the middle part of the map so perhaps the cnoc has been missed out by accident. The hill in question seems to be referred to as Cnoc Cas on OS maps, but this is almost certainly a mistake.
The name of the hill must refer to a piece of land (earrann) adjacent to it; at a guess this may be the triangle of land that sits at the base of Cnoc Leathan.
We have retained Munro Fraser's suggested translation of sgillinn here as 'penny', on the assumption that the name is relatively modern (18th century or later). If, however, the name goes back to the medieval period, the meaning of sgillinn would have been 'shilling'.
Cnoc Fada
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NM2749124721
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 48m
Elements: G cnoc + G fada
Translation: 'long hill'
Cnoc Fiar
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NM2839525659
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 10m
Elements: G cnoc + G fiar
Translation: 'crokked hill'
Cnoc Leathann
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NM2806823659
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 15m
Elements: G cnoc + G leathann
Translation: 'broad hill'
Description:
‘A flat-topped knoll situated a full quarter of a mile southwest of the village of Baile Mòr. Meaning “Broad Knoll”’ (OS1/2/37/25)
Cnoc Loisgte
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NM2689822054
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 39m
Elements: G cnoc + G loisgte
Translation: 'burnt hill'
Cnoc Meadhain
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NM2861624805
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 26m
Elements: G cnoc + G meadhan
Translation: 'middle hill'
Cnoc Mòr
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NM2828324199
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 47m
Elements: G cnoc + G mòr
Translation: 'big hill'
Description:
‘A conspicuous rocky knoll on the west side of the ruins of the Nunnery. Meaning “Big Knoll”’ (OS1/2/37/23)
Cnoc Mòr nan Gall
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NM2690122214
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 50m
Elements: G cnoc + G mòr + G an + G gall
Translation: 'big hill of the foreigners'
Cnoc na Beàrna
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NM2873925073
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 25m
Elements: G cnoc + G an + G beàrn
Translation: 'hill of the gap'
Cnoc na Buaile
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NM2623622361
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 37m
Elements: G cnoc + G an + G buaile
Translation: 'hill of the fold or livestock enclosure'
Description:
‘A small knoll on the north side of Buaile Staoineig, and a short distance from the south east end of Lag Beul-mhoir. Sig; “Knoll of the Enclosure”’ (OS1/2/77/142)
Cnoc na Carcuil
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NM2869125551
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 16m
Translation: 'hill of the ?cell'
Cnoc na Claiginn
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference:
Certainty: 1
Altitude: m
Elements: G cnoc + G an + G claigeann
Translation: 'hill of the (fertile) field'?
Cnoc na Cloiche
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NM2861624805
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 26m
Elements: G cnoc + G an + G clach
Translation: 'hill of the stone'
Cnoc na Corra-chòsaig
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NM2674423469
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 4m
Elements: G cnoc + G an + G corra-chòsag
Translation: 'hill of the woodlouse or slater'
Cnoc na Crìche
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NM2840324963
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 38m
Elements: G cnoc + G an + G crìoch
Translation: 'hill of the boundary'
Cnoc na Faire
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NM2637321915
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 11m
Elements: G cnoc + G an + G faire
Translation: 'hill of the look-out'
Description:
‘A small knoll at the north end of the shingle of Port na Curaich. Sig; “Knoll of the Watching”’ (OS1/2/77/141)
Cnoc na h-Analach
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NM2756723758
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 20m
Elements: G cnoc + G an + G anail
Cnoc na h-Uinneig
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NM2810323774
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 18m
Elements: G cnoc + G an + G uinneag
Translation: 'hill of the window'
Cnoc na Losgainn
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NM2816323730
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 12m
Elements: G cnoc + G an + G losgann
Translation: 'hill of the frog'
Cnoc na Maoile Buidhe
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NM2669023272
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 8m
Elements: G cnoc + G an + G maol + G buidhe
Translation: 'hill of Maol Buidhe'
Cnoc na Meirghe
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NM2796324377
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 34m
Elements: G cnoc + G an + G meirghe
Description:
‘A rocky Knoll at the north east end of Gleann Cùl Bhurg Sig; “Knoll of the Rust”’ (OS1/2/37/18)
Cnoc na Mòna
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NM2738123425
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 19m
Elements: G cnoc + G an + G mòine
Translation: 'hill of the peat-moss'
Cnoc nam Bò
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NM2797223733
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 20m
Elements: G cnoc + G an + G bò
Translation: 'hill of the cows'
Description:
‘A small rocky knoll near to, and southeast of Clachancorrach. Meaning “Knoll of the Cows”’ (OS1/2/37/25)
Cnoc nam Bothan
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NM2653422213
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 37m
Elements: G cnoc + G an + G both
Translation: 'hill of the bothies'
Cnoc nam Bradhan
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NM2732223789
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 15m
Elements: en Cnoc nam Bràthan (Beag)
Translation: This is a dwelling name based on an existing name Cnoc nam Bràthan (Beag); see that entry for translation.
Cnoc nam Bràthan Beag
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NM2742723981
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 24m
Elements: G cnoc + G an + G brà + G beag
Translation: '(small) hill of the querns'
Cnoc nam Bràthan Mòr
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NM2770624922
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 44m
Elements: G cnoc + G an + G brà + G mòr
Translation: '(big) hill of the querns'
Cnoc nam Buachaillean
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NM2795525508
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 13m
Elements: G cnoc + G an + G buachaille
Translation: 'hill of the herdsmen'
Cnoc nam Marbh
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NM2867524645
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 21m
Elements: G cnoc + G an + G marbh
Translation: 'hill of the dead'
Cnoc nan Aingeal | Angel Hill
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV), Iona (IOX)
Classification: Antiquity, Ecclesiastical, Relief
Grid reference: NM2721623722
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 12m
Translation: 'hill of (the) angels'
Description:
Cnoc nan Aingeal, ‘hill of the angels’, is one of the first attested place-names of Iona. The ninth abbot Adomnán mentions it in his Vita Columbae as a place where Columba had gone to pray alone while a curious monk spied on him from a nearby hill and saw him surrounded by a ‘heavenly throng’ of angels which conversed with him as he prayed (VC iii, 16). This story is likely the origin of the name. But Adomnán also indicates that during his own abbacy (from AD 679) there had been a severe drought which threatened their crops. He consulted with his community, and they decided on a plan: to take Columba’s tunic and some books in his own handwriting, and take them up the ‘hill of the angels’ (Colliculo Angelorum) and wave them in the air, to summon rain on the earth. The plan worked, and the monks eventually got a plentiful harvest (VC ii, 44).
The latter of these two stories, told by a participant in the actual ritual with the relics, shows that this little hill had become a significant ritual site on the island by the end of the seventh century. In addition to the memory of Columba’s angelic encounter, the location of the hill may also be significant in this particular story, because it overlooks the machair which seems to have been the principal area of arable land on the island at that time, and so the monks standing on the hill waving their relics were actually overlooking the drought-stricken fields. (See Márkus, ‘Four Blessings and a Funeral’ for discussion of agriculture on the western side of the island.)
The ritual significance of the hill during the medieval period may be hinted at by early visitors to the island. In 1760 Pococke noted ‘a fine small green hill, called Angel Hill, where they bring their Horses on the day of St Michael and All Angels, and run races round it’ (Pococke 1760, 86). We can probably safely dismiss Pococke’s explanation that ‘probably this custom took its rise from bringing the Cattle at that season to be blessed, as they do now at Rome on a certain day of the year’ (ibid.). The fact the hill of the angels had become a centre for festive activity on the feast of St Michael and All Angels, 29 September, may be imagined to be a survival of pre-Reformation use of the hill on that feastday.
This ritual use of the hill seems have been known by MacDonald of Knock in 1776 too, who remarks, ‘Here was a grand place of worship, to which they went on white Horses mounted’. Further suggestions of its place in a ritual landscape appear in John Stuart’s letter to Thomas Pennant in 1773, who notes on this hill ‘a Druidical circle, 15 feet in diameter’, while Pennant himself recorded the site as having ‘a small circle of stones, and a little cairn in the middle, evidently druidical’ (Pennant 1774, 297). Lord Mounstewart visited the site in 1788 and saw the spot rather differently as ‘formerly a sacred spot, and the ruins of a chapel are still to be seen’. Clearly there was once some kind of stone structure on the hill, seen by all these witnesses, but one which they all interpreted in different ways. There is no visible trace of this stony structure today on this hill, which is given over to grazing, but what was visible when eighteenth-century visitors commented on the site may well have been the remains of a leacht or ailad, the kind of monument commonly erected in the Gaelic world as a ‘station’ in a processional landscape where devotional rituals would be carried out (see discussion under An Eala and Leacht). Only a careful archaeological investigation on this hill will reveal what this construction was.
This hill has also been known as Sìthean ‘fairy hill’, or Sìthean Mòr ‘big fairy hill’ to distinguish it from another nearby hill, Sìthean Beag or ‘little fairy hill’. Sìthean clearly gave its name to the farm called Shian (OS 6 inch 1st edn, 1881) or Sithean on the modern OS map, whose steadings lie about 150m SW of the hill. This and another nearby hill are what MacDonald of Knock in 1776 called ‘two beautiful hills called the high and low Sion hills’. The hill itself is now called Cnoc an t-Sidhein ‘hill of the sìthean’ on current OS maps, or Cnoc an t-Sìthein on the OS 6 inch 1st edn (1881). We might consider whether the ‘supernatural’ creatures (angels) referred to by the earliest recorded names are somehow connected to, or displaced by, the ‘supernatural’ creatures (fairies) referred to by the later name.
Cnoc nan Caorach
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NM2654324328
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 10m
Translation: 'hill of the sheep'
Description:
‘A rocky Knoll at the east end of Eilean Didil Sig; “Knoll of the “Sheep”’ (OS1/2/37/16)
Cnoc nan Càrnan
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NM2848824465
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 28m
Elements: G cnoc + G an + G càrnan
Translation: 'hill of the little cairns'
Description:
‘A small rocky knoll a short distance west of the Cathedral, and on the west side of the public road. Meaning “Knoll of the Little Cairns”’ (OS1/2/37/5)
Cnoc nan Cliabh
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NM2794023776
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 21m
Elements: G cnoc + G an + G cliabh
Translation: 'hill of the creels'
Description:
‘A small rocky knoll on the west side of Cnoc nam Bò. Meaning “Knoll of the Creels”’ (OS1/2/37/25)
Cnoc nan Dias
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference:
Certainty: 1
Altitude: m
Elements: G cnoc + G an + G dias
Translation: hill of the ears of corn'
Cnoc nan Glac
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NM2735123308
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 25m
Elements: G cnoc + G an + G glac
Translation: 'hill of the hollows or defiles'
Cnoc Odhrain
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NM2754623844
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 22m
Elements: G cnoc + pn Odhran ~ Oran (St)
Translation: 'hill of (St) Odhran'
Description:
‘A small Knoll south east of Cnoc-nam-bradhan and east of Lagnagigean Sig; “Oran’s Knoll”’ (OS1/2/37/19)
Cnoc Oran
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NM2757423732
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 20m
Elements: en Cnoc Odhrain
Cnoc Ruaraidh
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV), Iona (IOX)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NM2802025462
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 16m
Elements: G cnoc + pn Ruaraidh
Translation: 'hill of Ruaraidh, or Rory's hill'
Cnoc Sgoilte
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NM2860225480
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 16m
Elements: G cnoc + G sgoilte
Translation: 'split or cleft hill'
Cnoc Urrais
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV), Iona (IOX)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NM2744224418
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 37m
Elements: G cnoc + G urras
Translation: 'hill of (the) surety or bond'
Description:
‘A rocky Knoll situated west of Cnoc a’ Mheirgeidh Sig; Unknown’ (OS1/2/37/18)
Cnoc-culphail
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV), Iona (IOX)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NM2885925341
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 23m
Elements: en Cnoc Cùil Phàil
Description:
The dwelling name as it stands is taken from the small hill adjacent to it, Cnoc Cùil Phàil (qv). However, Mairi MacArthur notes that the names Cnoc-Culphail and Cùil Phàil have locally been used interchangeably for the house over the years.
The house gained prominence in the early 20th century when it became one of the seasonal residences of the artist F. C. B. Caddell, one of the Colourists, who painted many scenes in the vicinity (more on this and see MacArthur 1995; Christian and Stiller 2000).
It is described in the OS Name Books (OS1/2/37/4) as 'A farmsteading a short distance south of Arduara.'
Cnocan an Aiteil
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NM2797623427
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 6m
Elements: G cnocan + G an + G aiteal
Translation: 'little hill of the juniper (?)'
Cnocan na Buidhnich
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NM2855525040
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 36m
Elements: G cnocan + en (A’) Bhuidhneach
Translation: 'little hill of Buidhneach'
Cnocan Sgùman
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NM2669922134
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 52m
Elements: G cnocan + G sgùman
Translation: 'little hill of (the) stacks (of corn)'
Cnocan Teanganaich
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NM2874125426
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 21m
Cnocmor
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NM2846024263
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 22m
Elements: en Cnoc Mòr
Translation: This is a dwelling place named after a landscape feature: for translation, see the existing name Cnoc Mòr.
Cobhain Cuildich
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV), Iona (IOX)
Classification: Antiquity, Ecclesiastical
Grid reference: NM2763424904
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 40m
Elements: G cobhan + G cùilteach or G cùilteach
Translation: 'secluded hollow'
Coire Sianta
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NM2633322254
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 29m
Elements: G coire + G seunta
Translation: 'sacred hollow'
Columba’s Bay
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV), Iona (IOX)
Classification: Water
Grid reference: NM2623321639
Certainty: 1
Altitude: m
Elements: pn Calum Cille ~ Columba (St) + SSE bay
Translation: 'Columba's bay'
Corr-Eilean
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV)
Classification: Island
Grid reference: NM2611024527
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 3m
Elements: G corr + G eilean
Translation: 'pointed (?) island'
Creag Ghrùgach
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV), Iona (IOX)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference: NM2744423122
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 44m
Elements: G creag + G grùgach
Translation: 'scowling crag'
Creagach
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV)
Classification: Relief
Grid reference:
Certainty: 1
Altitude: m
Elements: G creag + G -ach
Translation: 'craggy (place)'
Crois Bhriannain | St Brendan’s Cross †
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV)
Classification: Antiquity, Ecclesiastical
Grid reference: NM2865824343
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 12m
Elements: G crois + pn Briannan (st)
Crois Eòin | St John’s Cross
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV), Iona (IOX)
Classification: Antiquity, Ecclesiastical
Grid reference: NM2865124508
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 19m
Elements: G crois + pn Eòin (St)
Translation: 'cross of (St) John'
Crois Mhàrtainn | St Martin’s Cross
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV), Iona (IOX)
Classification: Antiquity, Ecclesiastical
Grid reference: NM2864124506
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 20m
Elements: G crois + pn Màrtainn ~ Martin (St)
Translation: 'cross of (St) Martin'
Crois MhicIllEathain | MacLean’s Cross
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV), Iona (IOX)
Classification: Antiquity, Ecclesiastical
Grid reference: NM2854424232
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 12m
Elements: G crois + pn MacIllEathain ~ MacLean
Translation: 'MacLean's cross'
Cruanaich
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV)
Classification: Field
Grid reference: NM2887325411
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 23m
Translation: uncertain meaning
Cruistean na Mannach †
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV), Iona (IOX)
Classification: Antiquity, Other
Grid reference: NM2872324554
Certainty: 2
Altitude: 16m
Elements: G crùiste + G an + G manach
Translation: 'vaults of the monks'
Description:
This name appears in the record only once, in the record of the 1771 visitor (Sharpe, 2012, 187). He notes ‘North-east of the cathedral is the college and Cruistean na Mannach, or monks cells. Cruistean na Mannach is in the south end of the college. It has on each side four places wrought in an arched manner, fronting each other. It was here the monks were wont to hold their disputations.’ Given the description here, the name clearly refers to the chapter-room of the Abbey, where ‘within the thickness of each of the side-walls [i.e. the north and south walls] there are constructed four round-headed recesses … containing stone benches, and a continuous bench also runs along the E wall’ (Argyll 4, 129). The 1771 author seems to use the word ‘college’ for the cloister buildings, in which case his description of the chapter-house or Cruistean na Mannach as being on the ‘south end’ is mistaken; it is actually on the eastern range of the cloister, slightly to the north of centre (see Argyll 4, pull-out plan).
The generic element of this name (properly Crùistean nam Manach) appears in various forms. MacBain (Etymological Dictionary s.v. crùisle, crùidse) defines it as ‘vault, crypt’, and argues that it derives from Middle English crowd, a by-form of English crypt. (see OED s.v. crowd n2). Dwelly lists the word as crùisle and defines it as ‘the hollow vault of a church, mausoleum’. DIL on the other hand lists cruisde as related to crotch, crutch (albeit with a question-mark expressing doubt), and offers an instance where it means ‘transept’. Given the use of the plural noun cruistean in this place-name, apparently referring to the arched recesses in the chapter-room, we might prefer MacBain’s etymology and definition.
We find another use of the word crùiste on Iona in a reference to a site in Rèilig Odhrain, where ‘crùiste Lachainn ‘ic Ionmhuinn athair an Aba’ is ‘the burial-place of Lachlan MacKinnon, father of the abbot’ (Macleod 1867, 360-361). His grave-marker made in 1489 survives in the Abbey Museum today, inscribed Hec est crux Laclanni meic Fyngone et eius filii Johannis abbatis de Iy, ‘this is the cross of Lachlan MacKinnon and his son, John, the abbot of Iona’. What sort of monument Macleòid’s crùiste refers to is not entirely clear. It may simply be the burial itself, but it is perhaps more likely to have been some small vault-like construction that stood over the grave at the time this was recorded, perhaps something like the one drawn by William Gell in the late 18th or early 19th century and labelled McAllesters Tomb.
On the assumption that a crùiste is a built object, we may suppose that the crùistean nam manach were the eight recesses with benches in them in the walls of the chapter-house. The 1771 author’s suggestion of ‘monks cells’ as a translation for the name is strange, but if we assume that he is using the word ‘cell’ to refer to the recesses in the north and south walls, it is a reasonable translation.
Cùil Phàil
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV), Iona (IOX)
Classification: Other
Grid reference: NM2885925331
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 23m
Elements: G cùil + pn Pàl ~ Paul
Translation: 'Paul's nook or shelter'
Description:
This name refers both to the hollow or nook, and to the house built in it. The dwelling was also, interchangeably, called Cnoc-Culphail (and variants), after the nearby hillock, Cnoc Cùil Phàil, and that is its current official name. The name Cùil Phàil, however, clearly has priority in this sequence of names.
Pàl (Paul) is a relatively unusual personal name in the early modern period on Iona. While we might therefore wonder if it is a saint’s name, there are few dedications to St Paul in Scotland, and cùil is an unusual element to find with a saint’s name (though not completely unknown: cf Cùl Chiarain, Kilcolmonell Parish, recte Cùil Chiarain?, also in Argyll). One possibility may be that the feature was named from someone with the family name MacPhail (Mac Phàil), e.g. *Cùil ‘ic Phàil and the ‘mac’ has been elided out over time (see Eilean Lucais for a similar suggestion there; and the likelihood that this has happened with the obsolete Croit Eachairn, from a family of MacEacharns: see EMM new ed 285). Mac Phàil ~ MacPhail is a common name on Mull, and there were some MacPhails on Iona in the 19th century, including one of the substantial landholders, Duncan MacPhail, described by Mairi MacArthur as Iona’s ‘first farmer’ (EMM new ed 98).
A final possibility worth mentioning is that the original name may have been *Cùil Fàil (‘the nook of the dyke/enclosure’). However, it seems unlikely that such a common word would be transformed into an uncommon local personal name.
Cùl a’ Chlaidh
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV), Iona (IOX)
Classification: Other
Grid reference: NM2853924721
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 26m
Elements: G cùl + G an + G cladh
Translation: '(at the) back of the burial-ground'
Cùl an Dùin
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV), Iona (IOX)
Classification: Field
Grid reference: NM2645224743
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 14m
Elements: G cùl + G an + G dùn
Translation: '(at the) back of the fort'
Cùl na Cloiche
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV), Iona (IOX)
Classification: Field
Grid reference: NM2853924721
Certainty: 1
Altitude: m
Elements: G cùl + G an + G clach
Translation: '(at the) back of the stone'
Culbhuirg
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NM2704424068
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 9m
Elements: en Cùl Bhuirg
Culdamh
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV), Iona (IOX)
Classification: Settlement
Grid reference: NM2682723342
Certainty: 1
Altitude: 10m
Elements: en *Cùil Daimh or en *Cùl Daimh
Translation: This is a dwelling name formed from an existing landscape name, *Cùl Daimh ('the back(place) of the ox') or *Cùil Daimh ('the nook of (the) ox').
Cuul Eilne †
Kilfinichen & Kilvickeon (KKV), Iona (IOX)
Classification: Other
Grid reference: NM275236
Certainty: 2
Altitude: 15m
Translation: 'the back or nook of Eilne' (see discussion)
Description:
This place-name occurs only once in the entire surviving record of Iona. Adomnán’s Vita Colmbae records an event when, over a period of several days, when the monks are returning from work on the ‘little western plain’. On the way home they all receive a strange and unexpected sense of relief—a fragrant smell, a pleasant warmth, a joyousness of heart, a sense of relief rom the weight of their burdens. This sensation is revealed to be the result of the abbot Columba thinking of them, while ‘his spirit comes to meet us as we walk; and thus he comforts and gladdens us’ (VC i, 37). It takes place at ‘a place which is called in Gaelic Cuul Eilne, which place is said to be in the middle between the eastern plain of Iona and our monastery’ (inter occidentalem Ionae insulae campulum et nostrum monasterium medius).
It is impossible to be certain exactly where Cuul Eilne was, and the grid reference given here is simply that of the approximate half-way mark between the Machair and the east side of the island, a natural division between west and east. For further discussion of this place and Adomnán’s use of it to devise a sacred topography of the island, see Márkus 2021, 12-14.