Photograph of the remains of St Patrick’s Chapel on Kennavara.
Courtesy of Mr Donald MacKinnon
St Patrick’s Chapel, or Teampull Phàraig as it is known in Gaelic, lies on the Balephuil side of Kennavara within an irregular enclosure measuring one third of an acre. On the north and east boundaries are four scarped platforms, possibly the sites of huts. The site was probably a cashel or monastery of the Early Christian period.
The chapel stands in the south-west quarter of the enclosure and measures some 8 by 3.4 metres. Only part of the east gable survives; the rest of the walls are turf-covered footings. Against the centre of the east wall are the remains of an altar-base roughly one metre square. The visible masonry is of lime-mortared local rubble.
The Statistical Account of 1794 recorded that the walls stood 1.7 metres high. According to Ada Goodrich-Freer in her book ‘Outer Isles’, in 1898 the walls were ‘ruthlessly thrown down by two idle lads “for amusement”’.
Black and white photograph of St Patrick`s Chapel on Kennavara.
The baptism of Christine MacDonald at Balephuil in the 1960s
Photograph of the baptism of Christine MacDonald at Balephuil in the 1960s
Courtesy of Mr Donald MacKinnon
The Reverend Cowie is pictured here around 1963 baptising Christine MacDonald in Abhainn Bhì, attended by lay preacher, Lachlan MacKinnon. The stream, named after a Columban saint Mo Bhì, has long been associated with Christianity.
For over a hundred years until the 1940s, the Baptist Church was very influential in Tiree and its buildings frequently filled to capacity. In 1874 its membership peaked at a hundred and sixty. By the late 1980s it had fallen to under ten; today there are around a dozen.
There are two small Baptist churches on the island at Balemartine and Baugh. Only the Balemartine one is still in use and Sunday services attract over thirty worshippers.
Black and white photograph of a baptism at Balephuil.
Baptist minister Rev Cowie baptising Teen MacDonald in the burn at Balephuill, with Lachie MacKinnon, Parkhouse in attendance, around 1963-4.
Black and white photograph of the Mission House, Balephuil.
The Mission House, Balephuil, taken in the 1950s. L-R: (front to back) Morag MacKinnon, Balephuil; Archie MacArthur; Hugh MacEachern; Mary MacKinnon, Parkhouse; Helen MacKay (Cathy Gunn’s mother); Ann MacArthur; Helen Sinclair, Greenhill; Netta MacDonald; Margaret Sinclair; Kenny MacKay; Helen MacDonald; Mary Flora Sinclair; John MacKay, husband of No. 5; Donald Brown; Donald MacDonald, Balephuil; Willie MacIntosh; John MacFadyen, Barrapol; Maisie MacLeod; Bobby Tester; Willie Brody; John Brown; Duncan MacPhail.
Postcard painting of Moss around 1900 with Heylipol Church in the distance. The figure is possibly the grandmother of Johann MacKinnon nee Brownlie of Barrapol. Houses L-R: Allt Mor, Catriona Rowan`s grandmother`s house; Alex MacPhail`s house; Johann MacKinnon`s grandparents` house.
Black & white photograph of Rev. Duncan MacFarlane (1822-1908), Balemartine, and his family around 1900.
Courtesy of Ms Elsie MacKinnon
Rev. Duncan MacFarlane (1822-1908), Baptist minister at Tobermory and Tiree, his wife Catherine and their children, the Very Rev. Dr. Dugald MacFarlane (1869-1956), former Moderator of the Church of Scotland, and his sister Anne, probably taken around 1900.
John MacFarlane, Duncan’s brother, was the first Tiree-born Baptist pastor. In 1851 John succeeded Rev. Duncan MacDougall, a devoted itinerant evangelist who, along with the Rev. Archibald Farquharson of the Congregational Church, was prominent in the religious awakening of 1839-1846.
Duncan MacFarlane, who had converted through the preaching of Rev. Farquharson, left Tiree to become a merchant in Tobermory. He was accepted as a Baptist missionary in 1856 and proved influential in the revival of 1874 in Tiree. In 1879 he succeeded his brother as pastor of the Tiree Baptist Church, which he served until his death in 1908.
Rev. Hector MacKinnon was born at Lodge Farm in Kirkapol in 1866, the son of Donald MacKinnon and his wife Ann MacLean. He studied at Edinburgh University where he won prizes in several Arts and Divinity classes and was awarded three bursaries.
In 1891 he was licensed as a minister and the following year chosen as the successor to Rev John Gregorson Campbell in Tiree. From 1894 to 1897 he ministered in Stornoway and then in Campbeltown until 1905 when he was called to the parish of Shettleston in the east end of Glasgow.
His eloquence as a preacher in English and Gaelic earned him the soubriquet of ‘Spurgeon of the North’. He died in 1913 aged forty-six from influenza complicated by pneumonia. A plaque in Kirkapol church commemorates his life.
Black and white photograph of Rev. Hector MacKinnon of Lodge Farm, Kirkapol.
Rev. Hector MacKinnon (1866-1913) of Lodge Farm, Kirkapol. Born at Lodge Farm, Kirkapol, he studied at Edinburgh University, was ordained as a minister in 1890 and served in Tiree in 1891. He ministered in Shettleston in the east end of Glasgow where he died unexpectedly aged 46.
Black and white photograph of Ruaig School around 1918.
Ruaig School around 1918. L-R: (front row) Helen Reilly, Milton; unknown; unknown; Mary Ann Lamont, Caoles; unknown; Morag MacDonald, Milton; unknown; (second row, behind second girl) Donald Archie Cameron, Caoles; unknown; unknown; unknown; unknown; unknown; (third row) Neil MacDonald, Skipnish; Donald MacDonald, Mull View, Caoles; Neil MacArthur, Milton; unknown; John Donald Lamont, Caoles; unknown; Hugh Archie MacKinnon, Ruaig; unknown; unknown; unknown; Hector MacKinnon, Caoles; (back row) Iain MacKinnon, Ruaig Post Office; headmaster Mr Rankine; unknown; unknown; unknown; Church of Scotland minister (?); Mr Taylor, Baptist Church (?); United Free Church minister (?).
Local news including introduction by new Community Council chairman Gordon Donald, the results of Community Council elections, extracts from the minutes of the last meeting, the visit from the Benefits Bus, community co-operatives in other islands, list of books about Tiree, church and school news, the weather, a Gaelic song by Iain MacKinnon of Vaul, Tiree Playgroup, Guides and Boys` Brigade.
