The chapel at Kilkenneth
Photograph of the ruins of the chapel at Kilkenneth in 2001
Courtesy of Rev. Robert Higham
The ruins of a small chapel dedicated to St Cainnech lie in the sand-dunes at Kilkenneth. Like the other remaining medieval chapels on Tiree, it was built from lime-mortared local rubble. Oblong in plan, it measures 8.7 by 3.1 metres within walls three-quarters of a metre thick.
The entrance is situated in the west gable-wall, of which a large part has collapsed. The chapel was lit by two slit-windows opposite each other in the side walls near the east end of the building.
The Statistical Account of 1794 records that at the chapel was ‘a burying ground so sandy, that, by blowing, heaps of human bones are seen, and coffins often exposed, before half consumed. It is now surrounded by sand banks higher than the side walls; they no longer bury there.’
Colour photograph of the Kilkenneth chapel in 2001.
The chapel at Kilkenneth, photographed in 2001.