Urras Eaglais na h-Aoidhe held their annual lecture recently and learned more about the history of the important Ui Church on the Aignish peninsula – including the likelihood that the Sword Stone marks the burial spot of the clan chiefs of the Lewis Macleods.
This coffin-shaped stone, which is decorated with a faintly-visible sword, had previously given rise to a theory that the Ui Church was linked to the Knights Templar. But all the research now points to it marking the final resting place of the Macleod chiefs, with the sword believed to be a reference to one particular chief’s reputation as an excellent swordsman.
For Urras Eaglais na h-Aoidhe (the Ui Church Trust), who knew that Macleod clan chiefs were buried at Ui but not exactly where, it is valuable new information.
The links between Ui and the Macleod chiefs, including the importance of the Sword Stone, were the subject of this year’s Colm Cille lecture – entitled “18, 19 or 21? Speculations on the MacLeod chiefs buried at Aoidh” and delivered by genealogist Andrew MacLeod.
The lecture, organised by the Ui Church Trust, was held at Ionad Stoodie in Point on September 7 and sponsored once again by Point and Sandwick Trust.
We cover the costs of the lecture every year so that Urras Eaglais na h-Aoidhe can conserve its funds for work on the site. We normally donate £300 plus accommodation and travel costs for the speaker – a donation which is “of considerable importance” to Urras Eaglais na h-Aoidhe.
The Ui Church on the Aignish peninsula dates back to the 14th Century and was one of the most important medieval churches in the Outer Hebrides. It is also one of the best preserved and there has been consolidation and conservation work to safeguard and protect the church building.
EROSION
However, although the church was secured by works carried out in 2012 and 2015, the general site has not and coastal erosion continues to threaten the graveyard as the ground immediately outside the graveyard, which is owned by the Stornoway Trust, is being eroded away.
The extent of the erosion which has already occurred is clear from typical designs of medieval church graveyards. They tended to be circular, with the church in the middle of the graveyard – but Ui Church is now right on the perimeter, next to Broad Bay. This is pictured above.
Colin Scott Mackenzie, Honorary President of the Ui Church Trust, said the new information about the Sword Stone was “vastly important”, adding: “The site is itself important, particularly for the parish of Stornoway as it was the parish church.
“It was, in its day, the most important church in the Hebrides. It was the richest church in the Hebrides. It was burnt down twice in its early days, possibly by the Vikings, and that it’s here at all is a wonder.”
Ui Church Trust secretary Liz Chaplin said it was “a horribly exposed location” and that waves came “right over” the church in the winter. “We’ve had starfish in the church,” she said.
Hundreds of bodies are known to lie at Ui – with a geophysical survey, a few years ago, establishing there were “layers upon layers” of bodies, particularly at the church and close to it.
There are even bodies under the coastal footpath between the church and the sea, according to Colin Scott Mackenzie, as this area would once have been close to the middle of the graveyard.
He said: “Throughout the generations people have been aware of the value of the church. There’s been local people who’ve been anxious about it and it would seem that winter storms have been getting worse in recent years. The sea wall that protects it has been damaged severely half a dozen times in the last 10 years.
RARE
“We’ve spent what we could, and we protected the church. If we hadn’t done that, it wouldn’t be here now.”
One of the reasons that Ui is so rare, said Liz, is that other medieval churches have either been reduced to rubble or radically renovated.
She recalled being struck by the view of a heritage and conservation expert, that “there were very, very few intact medieval churches – they are either heaps of stones or they’ve been redone.”
The main picture shows, from left to right; Alex John Murray, Ui Church Trust committee member (and Stornoway Trust trustee); Colin Scott Mackenzie, Ui Church Trust Honorary President; Liz Chaplin, Secretary of the Ui Church Trust; John Kennedy, a descendant of the Macleods of Lewis; and Donald John MacSween, General Manager of Point and Sandwick Trust. They are pictured inside the Ui Church, with the Sword Stone in the middle in front of them. All pics are by Sandie Maciver of SandiePhotos.
The Ui Church is a nationally important scheduled monument, with an internationally significant cemetery too, and Urras Eaglais na h-Aoidhe was formed in 2001 to safeguard, consolidate and preserve it. It also has a commitment to promote the church as a focal point in the community by developing a range of cultural and heritage initiatives – and the Colm Cille lectures are part of that.
As Liz Chaplin said: “The lecture is called the Colm Cille Lecture because the church is St Columba’s church and the lecture could be on anything of relevance to the Ui church and the area.”
She said it had been “very interesting” to hear the theories linking the clan chiefs to the Sword Stone. “We knew there were chiefs buried there but we didn’t know it was the Sword Stone. It’s valuable information – and it increases our responsibility to look after it properly.
“Now we have to decide, do we move the stone and put it under shelter or leave it as it is? Knowing the provenance of it is a huge thing for us. Tradition tells us the MacLeod chiefs were buried here but we never had the actual location for them until now.”
RESEARCH
Part of the church is roofed but the main section, which contains the Sword Stone, is unroofed.
Lecturer Andrew MacLeod hails from Perth and is a descendant of the Macleods of Skye. He is the genealogy co-ordinator of the Associated Clan Macleod Societies and was put in touch with the Ui Church Trust through a mutual friend – a Macleod descendant with Garrabost connections.
Liz Chaplin said: “His talk was very good. He’d done his research, he put it across very well, and people asked interesting questions. It was a very enjoyable evening.
“We are very grateful to Point and Sandwick Trust for very generously sponsoring the lecture. It means we are not having to dip into our reserves so it’s of considerable importance to us.”
Donald John MacSween, Point and Sandwick Trust General Manager, said: “PST are delighted to sponsor the annual Colm Cille lecture again this year and are fully supportive of the work that Urras Eaglais na h-Aoidhe is doing to secure and safeguard the Eye Chapel and churchyard.
“The Urras sets a consistently high standard for the lectures and it’s great that these lectures are leading to new information coming to light about the Ui Church.”
Previous Colm Cille lectures were given by Iain Smith, Calum Ferguson, Sandy Matheson, Malky Maclean, Domnhall William Stewart and Matthew Maciver.
Booklets are printed up afterwards, so that the contents of the lectures can be preserved, and they are usually available for sale by the time of the Point Agricultural Show the following summer.