St Conan’s Kirk, Loch Awe, Argyll , 2016

St Conan’s Kirk, Church of Scotland, is located in Loch Awe, Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It is situated on a crag high above the water amid vegetation which includes roses, honeysuckle, and ivy, and is surrounded by large trees. It was established as a chapel of ease by the Campbells of Innis Chonan. St Conan's Tower is 0.5 miles (0.80 km) away.The church is protected as a category A listed building.

St. Conan is the patron saint of Lorne and is reputed to have lived in Glenorchy. There is a well named after him on the far side of Dalmally. He was a disciple though not a contemporary of Columba, and like him came from Ireland. As a young man he was chosen to be tutor to the two sons of the King of Scotland, and eventually rose to be a Bishop. More interesting than the historical facts are some of the legends which have grown up round his name. One of these gave rise to an old Highland proverb. Like many of the Celtic saints, St. Conan was not afraid to meet the Devil face to face. On one occasion the saint and "The Deil" met to discuss the fate of the souls of the people of Lorne. They went about it in a thoroughly businesslike manner, for they divided these not into the sheep and the goats but into three categories, the "really good," the "downright bad" and the "middling." The good were to be the saint's, the bad the Deil's, and the middling they were to share equally. And this sharing equally was to be done by drawing in turn. All went smoothly as arranged until the Devil got excited and stretched out his hand when it was the saint's turn. But St Conan would have none of this; he rapped the Devil smartly over the knuckles, exclaiming, "Na, na, fair play, paw for paw," and it is this phrase which has passed into proverbial use.

It is renowned for the fragment of bone that is rumoured to have come from Robert the Bruce, King of Scotland. In this Kirk is a beautiful wrought-iron gate and railing including once more the Lymphads of Lorne, and guarding the entrance to the Crypt. Opposite this is the Bruce Chapel , which owes its origin to the fact that it was on the hillside above the kirk that the King despatched his famous outflanking column under the Earl of Douglas, which inflicted such a decisive defeat upon John of Lorne and his clansmen in the Pass of Brander.
The effigy, which is more than life-size, is of wood, the face and hands being of alabaster. It is the work of the well-known Edinburgh sculptor, Mr. Carrick, who was responsible for the figure of St. Conan outside the church and for the War Memorial at the entrance gate. Beneath the figure, let into the base, is a small ossuary which contains a bone of the King himself, taken from Dunfermline Abbey. In the chapel also are stored two screens from Eton College Chapel. It was Mr. Campbell's intention to erect these in another small chapel on the north side of the church, but on his death this project was abandoned. The large bell, which came from Skerryvore Lighthouse, was to have been hung in the church tower-but again this proposal had to be abandoned on the death of the founder. Only excepting the stonework from Iona in the South Aisle, the oldest and perhaps the most beautiful feature of the whole kirk is the lovely clear-glass window of the Bruce Chapel. This was the original west window of St. Mary's Church, South Leith, which was built in 1483. When this church was virtually rebuilt about 1836 the old window was demolished and lay for many years in a garden in Edinburgh until Mr. Campbell rescued it and incorporated it into St. Conan's.

Description
Nave, Chancel and N. Tower, 1881-6. Cloisters, Chapels S.
Tower, Aisles, Apse, Ambulatory, 1907-30. Walter Campbell
of Innis Chonain, architect. Ashlar and rubble. Slated
roofs. Traceried windows. S. side elaborate and impressive.
Interior: Open timber roofs. Arcades. Effigies of King
Robert I, Walter Campbell and 4th Lord Blythswood. Chancel
stalls. E window from St. Mary's Church Leith

Statement of Special Interest
In ecclesiastical use. Built on site of St. Conan's Chapel
at the expense of Mrs. Campbell of Blythwood (Renfrewshire)
mother of architect. Opened 1883.

source :

Wikipedia

J.C. MARTIN
House Of Letterawe
1954

Historic Environment Scotland
Scottish Charity No. SC045925

Video by D. Martin
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Music : Brethren, Arise by Chris Zabriskie

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