Saint Cathan, also known as Catan, Cattan, etc., was a 6th-century Irish monk revered as a

saint In Christianity, Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of sanctification in Christianity, holiness, imitation of God, likeness, or closeness to God in Christianity, God. However, the use of the ...

in parts of the Scottish

Hebrides The Hebrides ( ; , ; ) are the largest archipelago in the United Kingdom, off the west coast of the Scotland, Scottish mainland. The islands fall into two main groups, based on their proximity to the mainland: the Inner Hebrides, Inner and Ou ...

Source material

This saint appears in the ''

Aberdeen Breviary The ''Aberdeen Breviary'' () is a 16th-century Scottish Catholic breviary. It was the first full-length book to be printed in Edinburgh, and in Scotland. Origin The creation of the Aberdeen Breviary can be seen as one of the features of the growi ...

'',

Walter Bower Walter Bower (or Bowmaker; 24 December 1449) was a Scottish canon regular and abbot of Inchcolm Abbey in the Firth of Forth, who is noted as a chronicler of his era. He was born about 1385 at Haddington, East Lothian, in the Kingdom of Scotl ...

's ''

Scotichronicon The ''Scotichronicon'' is a 15th-century chronicle by the Scottish historian Walter Bower. It is a continuation of historian-priest John of Fordun's earlier work '' Chronica Gentis Scotorum'' beginning with the founding of Ireland and thereby ...

'', and the ''

Acta Sanctorum ''Acta Sanctorum'' (''Acts of the Saints'') is an encyclopedic text in 68 folio volumes of documents examining the lives of Christian saints, in essence a critical hagiography, organised by the saints' feast days. The project was conceived and ...

''. A number of placenames in western Scotland are associated with him.

Gaelic Christianity

He is said to have been one of the first Irish missionaries to come to the

Isle of Bute The Isle of Bute (; or '), known as Bute (), is an island in the Firth of Clyde in Scotland, United Kingdom. It is divided into highland and lowland areas by the Highland Boundary Fault. Formerly a constituent island of the larger County of ...

, then part of the Gaelic Kingdom of

Dál Riata Dál Riata or Dál Riada (also Dalriada) () was a Gaels, Gaelic Monarchy, kingdom that encompassed the Inner Hebrides, western seaboard of Scotland and north-eastern Ireland, on each side of the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North ...

. Very little is known of him; he is generally mentioned only in connection with his more famous nephew

Saint Blane Saint Blane (Old Irish ''Bláán'', died 590) was a bishop and confessor in Scotland, born on the Isle of Bute, date unknown; died 590. His feast is kept on 10 August. Origin Late (medieval) Scottish texts relate that his mother was Irish and ...

, who was born on Bute and later proselytized among the

Picts The Picts were a group of peoples in what is now Scotland north of the Firth of Forth, in the Scotland in the early Middle Ages, Early Middle Ages. Where they lived and details of their culture can be gleaned from early medieval texts and Pic ...

. Both saints were strongly associated with Bute and with

Kingarth Kingarth (; ) is a historic village and parish on the Isle of Bute, off the coast of south-western Scotland. The village is within the parish of its own name, and is situated at the junction of the A844 and B881. In the Early Middle Ages it wa ...

monastery, which became the center of their cults.Mackinlay, p. 104. A number of churches were dedicated to Cathan across Scotland's western islands. * ''Tobar Chattan'', or Cathan's Well, at Little Kilchattan on Bute may represent the site of Cathan's original church. * Other churches, now in ruins, include St Cathan's Chapel on

Colonsay Colonsay (; ; ) is an island in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland, located north of Islay and south of Isle of Mull, Mull. The ancestral home of Clan Macfie and the Colonsay branch of Clan MacNeil, it is in the council area of Argyll and Bute and ...

, *

Kilchattan Chapel Kilchattan Chapel (''St Cathan's Chapel'') is a ruined medieval chapel near Ardminish, Isle of Gigha, Argyll and Bute Argyll and Bute (; , ) is one of 32 unitary authority, unitary council areas of Scotland, council areas in Scotland and ...

Gigha Gigha ( ; ; ) or the Isle of Gigha (and formerly Gigha Island) is an island off the west coast of Kintyre in Scotland. The island forms part of Argyll and Bute and has a population of 163 people. The climate is mild with higher than average suns ...

, and * Kilchattan Church on

Luing Luing ( ; ) is one of the Slate Islands, Scotland, Slate Islands, Firth of Lorn, in the west of Argyll in Scotland, about south of Oban. The island has an area of and is bounded by several small skerries and islets. It has a population of aroun ...

. The Luing church served the historical Kilchattan parish; the modern Kilchattan Church was built at Achafolla in 1936. Cathan is said to have lived for a time at the monastery at

Stornoway Stornoway (; ) is the main town, and by far the largest, of the Outer Hebrides (or Western Isles), and the capital of Lewis and Harris in Scotland. The town's population is around 6,953, making it the third-largest island town in Scotlan ...

on the isle of

Lewis Lewis may refer to: Names * Lewis (given name), including a list of people with the given name * Lewis (surname), including a list of people with the surname Music * Lewis (musician), Canadian singer * " Lewis (Mistreated)", a song by Radiohe ...

, and his

relic In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains or personal effects of a saint or other person preserved for the purpose of veneration as a tangible memorial. Reli ...

s are said to have been housed at a chapel founded by

Clan MacLeod Clan MacLeod ( ; ) is a Scottish Highlands, Highland Scottish clan associated with the Isle of Skye. There are two main branches of the clan: the MacLeods of Harris, Outer Hebrides, Harris and Dunvegan, known in Gaelic as ' ("seed of Tormod") an ...

on the same island.Mackinlay, p. 105.

Impact

Landscape

Cathan's name survives in the various

toponym Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of ''wikt:toponym, toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage, and types. ''Toponym'' is the general term for ...

s in the area containing the element ''Chattan'' (where the first consonant is

lenited In linguistics, lenition is a sound change that alters consonants, making them "weaker" in some way. The word ''lenition'' itself means "softening" or "weakening" (from Latin 'weak'). Lenition can happen both synchronically (within a language ...

), such as: * many places called Kilchattan ("Church of Cathan") *

Ardchattan Ardchattan and Muckairn is a civil parish within Argyll and Bute in Scotland. It lies north of Oban, bordering Loch Etive and includes Glen Ure, Glen Creran, Barcaldine, Benderloch, Connel, Bonawe and Glen Etive. At the 2001 census, Ardch ...

("Cathan's Heights") * the village of

Kilchattan Bay Kilchattan Bay is a village on the Isle of Bute, Scotland. It lies on the island's southern end, along the coast road at the foot of a steep hill called the ''Suidhe Chattan'' which shields the village from the prevailing westerly wind. The vill ...

* Little and Mickle Kilchattan farms * names of the hill of ''Suidhe Chattan'' * Suidhe Chatain Hill in Bute. all on Bute.

Feast day

His feast day is 17 May.

Later Highland clan development

Several families on Bute bore the honoured name of Mac-gill-chattan—son of the servant of Catan and on account of the frequent occurrence of names similarly connected with those of saints who had churches dedicated to them in this vicinity e.g., Mac-gill-munn, Macgill-chiaran, Mac-gill-mhichell,—and connected with church offices, Mac-gill-espy (bishop), Mac-gill-Christ etc. Cattanachs are said to be families that followed or were originally servants or Coarbs of this saint and include founder families such as Macbean, MacPherson, and MacPhail of the

Chattan Confederation Clan Chattan ( or ), also sometimes referred to as "Clan Dhugaill" (Quehele) after its progenitor Dougall-Dall, is a unique confederation of Highland clans. This distinctive allied community comprised at its greatest extent seventeen separate ...

, a coalition of

Scottish clans A Scottish clan (from Scottish Gaelic , literally 'children', more broadly 'kindred') is a kinship group among the Scottish people. Clans give a sense of shared heritage and descent to members, and in modern times have an official structure r ...

Notes

References

* * * * "The Statistical Account of Buteshire", 1822, from ''Creag Dubh'', No. 18 (1966) * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cathan Medieval Irish saints Medieval Scottish saints 6th-century Irish Christian clergy Irish expatriates in Scotland History of Argyll and Bute People from the Isle of Bute 6th-century Christian saints 6th-century Scottish bishops