Detailed History
The following text was produced by Susan J Thomson for the booklet celebrating Killearnan's 700 years of Witness published in 1995. Copies of the booklet are available in Church.
The Parish of Killearnan is situated in the south-east of the county of Ross and Cromarty. The length from east to west is five miles and the breadth varies from two to four miles. It occupies 7,735 acres, and is bordered on the west by Urray, north by Urquhart and Logie Wester, north-east to east by Knockbain and on the south by the Beauly Firth.
Killearnan, in gaelic Cill-Iumain, derives its name from lurnan the Saint. He was the saint who founded the 'cill', and to whom it was dedicated. The name Ernan, Saint Columba's nephew, doesn't suit the gaelic phonetics, but the spelling lurnan does. So the patron saint of Killearnan is Ernan. Saint Ernan came as a monk from Ireland with his brother Cobtachus and ten others, in 640 A.D., they were the followers of Saint Columba. He later returned and settled in Ireland.
Cairns of some considerable dimension can be located at the floodmark on the south-east of Redcastle. It is thought that the Romans must have come this far north, as Roman urns have been found in one of them. At Mulbuie Ridge there were eighteen cairns, but due to the passage of time and removal of stones for agricultural use, little evidence of them remains, and what does remain is covered by scrub and trees. It is said that nearby there are the remains of a Druid temple. One of the cairns named Jurnein, is supposed to have been the burial place of lurnein, a Danish prince who died in combat with the Picts in 669 A.D. The Danes were thought to have had a settlement here, and were often in conflict with the local population.
Eddyrdor was the parish name until the Reformation, it comes from the Gaelic, eadar meaning 'between the waters' the Beauly and Cromarty Firths. From then on the name Killearnan was used, but could be spelt differently, for example Kilernane, Kyllarnane, Killernane and Kirewan.
Along the firth towards Muir of Ord lies the Spital Shore and north of that, the Spital Wood. The name Spital recalls the early hospital of Killearnan. This was not a place for the sick or infirm, but an ecclesiastically-founded resting place for pilgrims and travellers on their crossings of the firth. There were two early religious houses in the parish, Spital being one of them. At Chapleton, the other site, half a mile from the current church, a Lammas fair was held on 1st August. This chapel was dedicated to Saint Andrew. This was the church used by the parish until the current one was built.
The Parish Church as it stands today, dates from 1450. Work commenced in 1390, on the instructions of Bishop Alexander Man (our minister from 1376 to 1381), he later became Bishop of Caithness. It is a cruciform structure in the perpendicular style, built of local sandstone. Around 1796 the heather thatch was removed from the church roof and replaced with slates, further improvements were carried out around 1839, including new seating arrangements. In 1891 when the inheritors carried out extensive alterations the walls were heightened by four feet and a wooden floor placed above ground level. The original stone floor is three feet under the wooden one. Inverness architect Alexander Ross supervised the work. A built-up south arched doorway and a carved effigy at the west-end are relics of the medieval church, while the church bell dates from 1676. It was presented to the church by Colin MacKenzie of Redcastle. Inside the church on the right is a reclining figure made of conglomerate rock. No name can be found for it. The large window in the east gable is from the original church, while the pulpit is of the Rev John Kennedy, minister 1814-1841. On the outside of the church walls is a plaque to Archdeacon Monypenny, it is now so badly worn it cannot be read. He was our minister from 1537 to 1545.
The castle of Eddyrdor (Parish of Urray) was erected in 1178. A lordship was granted by King William de Lyon to one of the Bysets, probably John, who around 1230 founded the Priory at Beauly. For his personal and heredity possession within the lordships he was granted lands in Killearnan Parish, and he was known as the Tenant of Eddyrdor. Within the parish bounds stood his residence 'The Redcastle', so named after the red sandstone of which it was built. The sandstone was quarried nearby. The Douglases later had possession, but in 1455 nearly all lands in the Black Isle were annexed to the crown by King James II. On the 5th April 1481 King James III granted to his second son James Stewart, lands including Redcastle Estates. Mary Queen of Scots visited the Redcastle in 1562. In 1662 Colin MacKenzie inherited the property from his father Roderick. The last laird of that name was a collector of customs for Inverness. His eldest son was a smuggler, and whilst in the army, was charged with fraud in India. He was called home and spent the remainder of his life in the Tower. By the time the old laird died the estate was in such dire straits that it was put up for sale in 1770 and purchased by James Grant of Corriemony for £24,450. It was later sold to Sir William Fettes in 1828 for £135,000. His instructions were, that on his death, 'the principal part of my fortune, including Redcastle, is to be appropriated for the founding of the Fettes Institution, Edinburgh.' In June 1838 Redcastle was purchased by Col Hugh Ballie ofTarradale for £120,000. It now belongs to the Burtons of Dochfour. Its last occupants were the British servicemen in the second World War.
The land of Culcowy is mentioned in 1511, when James IV granted it to Henry Stewart. The lands of Culcowy, Drumnamarg and Marin, within the Mill of Redcastle, were rented to him for £41 per annum. In 1554 the same were granted to John Stewart, then the lands were acquired in 1618 by Alexander MacKenzie, the 4th son of the 11th Baron of Kintail, the Clan Chief. In 1679 he carved the elegant lintel bearing three coats of arms and the date. That family had possession of it for nearly 300 years until 1813. A Baronetcy was obtained in due course, but became extinct in 1883. The castle was erected between 1600-1650. It was restored in 1891 after lying in a ruinous condition for some time. At the end of the 1600's the cattle of Kilcoy and Redcastle fell ill with a fatal disease, and a reward was offered to anyone who could cure them. An old wizard, as the story goes, came along and said this could be done, but it would need a human sacrifice. Permission was given and an old friendless tramp was chosen as the victim. Lured into a barn, and while being disembowelled, he uttered a curse "Let the day never arrive when the family at Redcastle be without a female idiot, and the family of Kilcoy without a fool."
The Black Isle today is noted for its rich loamy soil, and the abundant crops grown on it. It has taken many years of hard toil for this to happen, because the ground in the early 1800's was still very stony and covered with heather and broom. The government gave a grant of £5 an acre to have it cleared and made fit to grow grain. Once the grain was harvested, cattle were bought specifically to clean the fields of remaining stubble and straw. They were wintered with the sheep in fields of turnips to fatten them up for market.
Native trees such as oak, ash, birch, scots pine and larch are still flourishing, but plantations these days are mainly of sitka spruce and other soft wood. These are grown for commercial use, and are not as attractive to the eye. Wild flowers are increasing due to the new policy of not cutting the verges on the road sides. Bluebells, campion, foxglove and honeysuckle are common. The different species of wild birds grow each year. The Red Kite was re-introduced a few years ago, and what a pleasure it is to watch it soaring effortlessly overhead. One caused an outdoor service at Coulmore to come to a standstill in 1993, when it hovered just thirty feet above the assembled congregation. With the 'setaside' of land more birds are finding the area to their liking, ospreys and sea eagles have been sighted, while foxes, badgers, stoats, roe deer are still part of the landscape.
