Machar was a 6th-century Irish Saint active in Scotland. A Bishop of Irish origin, Machar is said to have been a former nobleman, baptized by St Colman. He came to Iona with Columba and preached in Mull and later ministered to the Picts around Aberdeen. For this reason he was described anachronistically as the first Bishop of the see of Aberdeen. His legend, however, in the Aberdeen breviary makes him "Archbishop of Tours", appointed by Gregory the Great for the last few years of his life. This story deserves no credence. Water from his well was used for baptism in Aberdeen Cathedral. A few dedications survive from this area.Oxford Dictionary of Saints, 1978 Much of what is claimed to be known about St Machar derives from the

Aberdeen Breviary The ''Aberdeen Breviary'' ( la, Breviarium Aberdonense) 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 o ...

, a work compiled in the late fifteenth to early sixteenth centuries, long after the traditional date of Machar's life. It is therefore hard to assess its reliability. One recent theory is that St Machar and St Mungo were the same person, on the grounds of a possible link between their names (Colm Ó Baoill, ''St Machar - some linguistic light?'', Innes Review XLIV, p. 1-13).

Commemoration

St Machar's Cathedral St Machar's Cathedral usually called Old Machar (Scottish Gaelic: Cathair-eaglais Naomh Machar), (or, more formally, the Cathedral Church of St Machar) is a Church of Scotland church in Aberdeen, Scotland. It is located to the north of the ...

in Aberdeen is named in his honour. The Cathedral's font by Hew Lorimer depicts the saint baptising converts. The Machar oil field in the

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

is named after the saint. There is also a

St Machar Academy St Machar Academy is an Aberdeen City Council secondary school on St Machar Drive. It is near King's College and St Machar's Cathedral St Machar's Cathedral usually called Old Machar (Scottish Gaelic: Cathair-eaglais Naomh Machar), (or, ...

in Aberdeen, situated on St Machar Drive. His feast day is 12 November. St Machar's, Ranfurly church in

Bridge of Weir Bridge of Weir is a village within the Renfrewshire council area and wider historic county of Renfrewshire in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. Lying within the Gryffe Valley, Bridge of Weir owes its name to the historic crossing point t ...

is named in his honour after a minister from St Machar's cathedral became the minister.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Machar Christianity in Aberdeen Irish Christian monks Irish Christian missionaries 6th-century Christian saints 6th-century Irish bishops Medieval Irish saints Medieval Scottish saints Irish expatriates in Scotland