Kingarth is a historic village and parish on the Isle of Bute

Isle of Bute

Bute is an island in the Firth of Clyde in Scotland. Formerly part of the county of Buteshire, it now constitutes part of the council area of Argyll and Bute. Its resident population was 7,228 in April 2001.-Geography:...

, off the coast of south-western Scotland. In the Early Middle Ages

Scotland in the Early Middle Ages

Scotland in the early Middle Ages, between the end of Roman authority in southern and central Britain from around 400 and the rise of the kingdom of Alba in 900, was divided into a series of petty kingdoms. Of these the four most important to emerge were the Picts, the Scots of Dál Riata, the...

 it was the site of a monastery

Monastery

Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...

 and bishopric

Diocese

A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...

 and the cult centre of Saints Cathan and Bláán

Blaan

Blaan may refer to:*Saint Blane, Irish saint*B'laan, Philippine tribe...

 (Anglicized: Blane).

Located to the north of Kilchattan Bay

Kilchattan Bay

Kilchattan Bay is village on the Isle of Bute, Scotland. It lies 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 village faces the mainland to the east across the Firth of Clyde...

, Kingarth was the central religious site for the Cenél Comgaill kindred of Dál Riata

Dál Riata

Dál Riata was a Gaelic overkingdom on the western coast of Scotland with some territory on the northeast coast of Ireland...

 (after which Cowal

Cowal

thumb|Cowal shown within ArgyllCowal is a peninsula in Argyll and Bute in the Scottish Highlands.-Description:The northern part of Cowal is mostly the mountainous Argyll Forest Park. Cowal is separated from the Kintyre peninsula to the west by Loch Fyne, and from Inverclyde and North Ayrshire to...

 is named), just as Lismore

Lismore, Scotland

Lismore is a partially Gaelic speaking island in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. This fertile, low-lying island was once a major centre of Celtic Christianity, with a monastery founded by Saint Moluag and the seat of the Bishop of Argyll.-Geography:...

 was for the Cenél Loairn and Iona

Iona

Iona is a small island in the Inner Hebrides off the western coast of Scotland. It was a centre of Irish monasticism for four centuries and is today renowned for its tranquility and natural beauty. It is a popular tourist destination and a place for retreats...

 for the Cenél nGabráin. It is less than a kilometre from the early historic hill-fort

Dun

Dun is now used both as a generic term for a fort and also for a specific variety of Atlantic roundhouse...

 of "Little Dunagoil", which may have been the chief secular site of the kindred. The centre for Saint Bláán's cult had probably moved to the mainland to Dunblane

Dunblane

Dunblane is a small cathedral city and former burgh north of Stirling in the Stirling council area of Scotland. The town is situated off the A9 road, on the way north to Perth. Its main landmark is Dunblane Cathedral and the Allan Water runs through the town centre, with the Cathedral and the High...

 in Strathearn

Strathearn

Strathearn or Strath Earn is the strath of the River Earn, in Scotland. It extends from Loch Earn in Perth and Kinross to the River Tay....

 under the influence of Viking

Viking

The term Viking is customarily used to refer to the Norse explorers, warriors, merchants, and pirates who raided, traded, explored and settled in wide areas of Europe, Asia and the North Atlantic islands from the late 8th to the mid-11th century.These Norsemen used their famed longships to...

 attacks in the 9th century, perhaps like the movement of the relics of Saint Cuthbert to the bishopric of Lindisfarne and those of Saint Columba

Saint Columba

-Saints:* Columba , Irish Christian saint who evangelized Scotland* Columba the Virgin, also known as Saint Columba of Cornwall* Columba of Sens* Columba of Spain* Columba of Terryglass* Sancta Columba -Schools:...

 to the bishopric of Dunkeld.

Despite this, it survived as a religious site to become one of only two parish church

Parish church

A parish church , in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....

es on the island, the other being Rothesay

Rothesay, Argyll and Bute

The town of Rothesay is the principal town on the Isle of Bute, in the council area of Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It can be reached by ferry from Wemyss Bay which offers an onward rail link to Glasgow. At the centre of the town is Rothesay Castle, a ruined castle which dates back to the 13th...

; it was part of the diocese of the Isles

Diocese of the Isles

The Diocese of the Isles or Sodor was one of the thirteen dioceses of medieval Scotland. The original seat of the bishopric appears to have been at Peel, on St Patrick's Isle, where indeed it continued to be under English overlordship; the Bishopric of the Isles as it was after the split was...

, though perhaps originally in the diocese of Argyll

Diocese of Argyll

The Diocese of Argyll was an ecclesiastical territory or diocese in Scotland in the Middle Ages. The Diocese was led by the Bishop of Argyll, and was based at Lismore....

. Alan fitz Walter tried to grant the church to Paisley Abbey

Paisley Abbey

Paisley Abbey is a former Cluniac monastery, and current Church of Scotland parish kirk, located on the east bank of the White Cart Water in the centre of the town of Paisley, Renfrewshire, in west central Scotland.-History:...

 in 1204, but this grant does not appear to have been effective and it remained an independent parsonage until the 15th-century. In 1463 it became a prebend for the newly created chapter

Cathedral chapter

In accordance with canon law, a cathedral chapter is a college of clerics formed to advise a bishop and, in the case of a vacancy of the episcopal see in some countries, to govern the diocese in his stead. These councils are made up of canons and dignitaries; in the Roman Catholic church their...

 of the diocese of the Isles, but in 1501 it was annexed to the Chapel Royal

Chapel Royal

A Chapel Royal is a body of priests and singers who serve the spiritual needs of their sovereign wherever they are called upon to do so.-Austria:...

 at Stirling

Stirling

Stirling is a city and former ancient burgh in Scotland, and is at the heart of the wider Stirling council area. The city is clustered around a large fortress and medieval old-town beside the River Forth...

, becoming in 1509 a prebend for the chancellorship of the Chapel Royal, the latter arrangement surviving beyond the Scottish Reformation

Scottish Reformation

The Scottish Reformation was Scotland's formal break with the Papacy in 1560, and the events surrounding this. It was part of the wider European Protestant Reformation; and in Scotland's case culminated ecclesiastically in the re-establishment of the church along Reformed lines, and politically in...

.