Saint Kessog was an Irish

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thoma ...

of the mid-sixth century active in the Lennox area and southern

Perthshire Perthshire (Scottish English, locally: ; ), officially the County of Perth, is a Shires of Scotland, historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore, Angus and Perth & Kinross, Strathmore ...

. Son of the king of

Cashel Cashel (an Anglicised form of the Irish language word ''Caiseal'', meaning "stone fort") may refer to: Places in Ireland *Cashel, County Tipperary **The Rock of Cashel, an ancient, hilltop fortress complex for which Cashel is named ** Archbishop ...

in Ireland, Kessog is said to have worked

miracle A miracle is an event that is inexplicable by natural or scientific lawsOne dictionary define"Miracle"as: "A surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divi ...

s, even as a child. He left Ireland and became a missionary bishop in Scotland. Using Monks' Island in

Loch Lomond Loch Lomond (; ) is a freshwater Scottish loch which crosses the Highland Boundary Fault (HBF), often considered the boundary between the lowlands of Central Scotland and the Highlands.Tom Weir. ''The Scottish Lochs''. pp. 33-43. Published by ...

as his headquarters, he evangelized the surrounding area until he was martyred, supposedly at Bandry, where a heap of stones was known as ''St Kessog's Cairn''. Kessog was killed in 520 AD. The St Kessog's church in

Luss Luss (, 'herb') is a village in Argyll and Bute, Scotland, on the west bank of Loch Lomond. The village is within the Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park. History Historically in the County of Dunbarton, its original name is ''Clacha ...

on the banks of Loch Lomond is named after Kessog and the church contains an effigy of the saint. There is a Roman Catholic church in the nearby town of Balloch also named after him. Kessog is claimed to have brought Christianity to the area around Luss in 510 AD and 1500 years of continuous Christian presence in the area was celebrated in 2010. Elsewhere in Scotland, the medieval parish churches of

Auchterarder Auchterarder (; , meaning Upper Highland) is a town north of the Ochil Hills in Perth and Kinross, Scotland, and home to the Gleneagles Hotel. The High Street of Auchterarder gave the town its popular name of "The Lang Toun" or Long Town. The ...

and

Comrie Comrie may refer to: Places *Comrie (crater), a lunar crater *Comrie, Fife, a village in Fife, Scotland *Comrie, Perth and Kinross, a village and parish in Strathearn, Scotland People with the surname

*Aaron Comrie (born 1997), Scottish footba ...

, both in

, were dedicated to Kessog, and may have been founded by him or one of his followers. A 19th century church in

Callander Callander (; ) is a small town in the council area of Stirling (district), Stirling in Scotland, situated on the River Teith. The town is located in the historic county of Perthshire and is a popular tourist stop to and from the Highlands. De ...

is named St Kessog's and a nearby circular mound by the

River Teith The River Teith is a river in Scotland, which is formed from the confluence of two smaller rivers, the '' Garbh Uisge'' (River Leny) and '' Eas Gobhain'' at Callander, Stirlingshire. It flows into the River Forth near Drip north-west of Stirling ...

is named in pseudo-Gaelic as "Tom na Chessaig", meaning "the Hill of Kessog". The Kessock area of

Inverness Inverness (; ; from the , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness") is a city in the Scottish Highlands, having been granted city status in 2000. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highland ...

is named after the saint, as is the Kessog oil field in the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

. Soldiers had a special veneration for him and he's portrayed in military dress with arrows and then bended bow. As late as 1695 his bell, a sacred relic, was listed among the funeral investitures of the Earldom of Perth.

Sources

Saint of the Day, March 10
at ''SaintPatrickDC.org''
- A Branch of the Society for Creative AnachronismWeb Page of Luss Parish ChurchA Brief History of the United Diocese of Glasgow and Galloway, Scottish Episcopal Church
* eed of Isaac, Rex Kissack, Norris Modern Press Limited, Douglas, 1986br>"Saint Kessog, also known as Saint Kessoc or MacKessog""ST KESSOG – SCOTLAND’S FORGOTTEN FIRST PATRON SAINT"

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kessog Irish Christian missionaries 6th-century Christian saints 6th-century Scottish bishops 460 births 520 deaths Medieval Scottish saints Irish expatriates in Scotland 6th-century Scottish people