Monks and Bishops: Lismore 560-1560

The Isle of Lismore has a long reputation as a holy island, beginning with the foundation of a monastery by St Moluag in the sixth century, when it became a major centre of Christianity. The Roman Catholic Bishopric of Argyll was founded on Lismore in 1200, and the medieval Cathedral Church of St Moluag was completed in 1400, the choir of which forms the basis of the present-day parish church. Robert Hay tells the story of Moluag’s monastery, recently rediscovered by community archaeology, before exploring the rise and fall of the Bishopric of Argyll: the roles of the bishops; the years of prestige when leading families invested in elaborately carved graveslabs; the lean years when finances were strained; the struggles through decades of war, civil unrest, despoliation, famine and plague; and the final withdrawal of the bishop from Lismore to Dunoon in the mid fifteenth century. Even at the physical fringes of Scotland and Europe, the diocese was deeply affected by events on the national and international scene, with a major impact on this site of an unbroken tradition of Christian worship.