Early Christianity and Scandinavian influence Lismore was an important centre of
Celtic Christianity from an early date. The
Iona Chronicle records the death of
Mo-Luóc (also known as Moluag), who was probably abbot of the Lismore monastery in 594, and of his successors Neman in 613 and Eochaid in 637. There is, however, no reason to suppose that this was a daughter house of
Columba's
abbey on
Iona itself. Lismore probably maintained its status as the principal religious house of the
Cenél Loairn during the remainder of the 7th century and the deaths of abbots Iarnlaigh c. 700, Colmán in 704 and Crónán ua Eoain in 718 are recorded in the
Annals of Ulster. Five further such obituaries are recorded in the latter half of the 8th century. Lismore was part of the kingdom of
Dalriada in the 6th century and probably thereafter until the arrival of the
Vikings in the late 8th century, after which it is likely the island was absorbed into the Norse-Gael
Kingdom of the Isles.
Magnus Barelegs had established direct Norwegian overlordship over this sprawling
sea kingdom by 1098. In that year,
Edgar of Scotland signed a treaty with Magnus which settled much of the boundary between the Scots and Norwegian claims in these islands. Edgar formally acknowledged the existing situation by giving up his claims to the Hebrides but there were a few exceptions including
Luing and Lismore, which were retained by the Scots.
Medieval period Lismore later became the seat of the medieval
Bishopric of Argyll. Before the late 12th century the
Bishopric of Dunkeld included all of
Argyll, but sometime between 1183 and 1193 they were separated, as apparently the then Bishop
John Scotus was unable to speak Gaelic. Lismore became the seat of the new bishop, and he and his successors were known as
Episcopi Lismorenses At least by 1268, Laurence de Ergadia became Bishop of Argyll and served in that position until his death in 1299. In the event
St Moluag's cathedral at Clachan maintained its position until 1507, when the diocese's centre was moved to
Saddell in
Kintyre. The ruins of
Coeffin Castle stand on the summit of a rocky promontory on the coast west of Clachan. There is the outline of an oblong hall-house, which may be 13th century, and an irregularly shaped
bailey, likely of a later date. A tidal
fish trap, of unknown age, is located in the small bay to the south-east of the castle. To the north-east of the castle are the remains of a stone-walled fort. as seen from Bernera Bay The remains of
Achanduin Castle west of Achnacroish is also thought to date back to the 13th century. Built by the
MacDougalls around 1290, who held it throughout the 14th century, the castle is then thought to have been held by the Bishops of Argyll until the mid 16th century. The castle overlooks the island of
Bernera. However, the view of Munro (1961) is that this last comment more properly applies to the larger "Ramsay Isle". Lismore is the home of the
Clan MacLea, who claim kinship with the
Livingstone family, and who were recognised by the
Lord Lyon in 2002. The
Plod nam Baran, which is adjacent to the site of Saint Moluag's church, may be the burial ground of its clan chiefs, or "barons". The current chief, Niall Livingstone of Bachuil, is the "
Coarb of Saint Moluag" and since the 16th century or earlier, the chiefs have been hereditary keepers of the saint's
crozier or pastoral staff known as the
Bachuil Mòr.
18th to 20th centuries In 1707, the
Acts of Union merged England and Scotland, and Lismore became part of the
Kingdom of Great Britain. Thereafter taxes on
whisky distillation rose dramatically, and much of Scotland's distillation was either shut down or forced underground until the 1823 Excise Act provided a legal framework for the industry. The remains of at least two illicit stills from this period have been found on Lismore. In 1749 the ruins of the old cathedral were trimmed down from their remaining height, given a roof and turned into a parish church with a bell tower. The remains of another two kilns can be seen at Kilcheran near
Lismore Seminary, a
Roman Catholic divinity school that was in operation from 1803 to 1828 at a time when the other inhabitants of the island were staunchly
Presbyterian.
John Stuart McCaig, the architect of
McCaig's Tower in
Oban, was born on Lismore in the 19th century as was the folklorist
Alexander Carmichael. Overlooking Lismore Bay is a
Celtic Cross, a memorial to Waverley Arthur Cameron, the son of
Duncan Cameron, inventor of the "Waverley"
nib pen and the owner of
The Oban Times newspaper. There have been various other shipwrecks in the vicinity. In 1889 the
paddle steamer Mountaineer lived up to its name by clambering onto Lady's Rock, the damage to which was still visible in 1995. In 1905 the
MacBrayne steamship
Clydesdale hit the same obstruction in a
Force 6 wind. The harbour patrol craft
Appletree was sunk in a collision with an
RAF pinnace east of the Lismore light in October 1940 with, according to one report, the loss of two lives. The
trawler MFV Solway Firth foundered south of this position in 1977. Lismore, like other
Hebridean islands, has suffered from
depopulation since the 19th century, in large part due to the
Clearances. In 1798 there were 900 people living on the island and 1399 by 1841. Over the next 40 years the population more than halved to 621. By 1961 there were only 155 residents, and by the time of the 1991 census there were just 140. In the 2001 census, the population had risen slightly to 146, over 45% of whom were over 60 years old, making it the Scottish island with the oldest population. ==Present day==