KILCHOMAN

KILCHOMAN PARISH is another very ancient parish on the Isle of Islay and covers the west portion of the island.  It was named after the Celtic saint Coman (or Chomanus) c. 688 who established a church in the north east of the parish. A Celtic standing cross and a ruined church remain on this ancient site.  In 1899 a new church was built between Port Charlotte and Bruichladdich villages.  Kilchoman was linked with Portnahaven parish in 1962, and further linked with Kilmeny in 2006. 
                                                       
According to New Statistical Account of Scotland FHL book 941 B4sa, series 2 vol. 7)

 This parish  obtained its name for the burying place of Chomanus  who is supposed to have come from the monastery of Iona to establish the Gospel in Islay….. The registers have been kept only since 1822.  

Kilchoman is known for its many beautiful and intricately carved crosses and memorial stones.  It is also the home of many standing stones.  There are three sites that show us many examples of both these kinds of stones.


To learn more about the carved stones of Kilchoman along with detailed descriptions, photographs and drawings go to: http://owww.islayinfo.com/carved_stones_parish_kilchoman.html      Below is an example of the intricate carving, The illustration of the carving (below) was borrowed from that page 
                                                                                                                                                                 
We learn about Standing Stones on the following site with both notes, descriptions and pictures http://www.islayinfo.com/islay_standing_stones.html

Standing Stones in Scotland are dated by archaeologists to the Early Bronze Age (about 2000BC), partly because they are sometimes set up in association with kerb cairns which have been dated to this period. Some standing stones may be from an earlier period, which is the Neolithic period. Standing stones can vary from 1.5 metres to 4 metres tall, and often have two long flat faces, or sides. It is the flat faces which usually indicate the directions to look towards the horizon in order to point out a special point of interest.

Standing stones are usually of local rock, and can vary from squat blocks to tall thin slabs. It is said that these standing stones were used as astronomical markers, battle memorials or route markers. Standing stones are sometimes grouped in a line of two or more, and are then referred to as 'alignments'. Standing stones can be found on Islay as well on several places, and maybe the standing stone at Port Ellen is the largest of them all.

Another interesting site with pictures and tales about the Islay Stones is: http://blog.islayinfo.com/article.php/islay-standing-stones-and-fairy-tale


Kilchoman has been assigned the parish number #540.  The parish records do not begin until 1821 and can be found on FHL film #1041079 Item 4


Item 4 – Baptisms and Marriages 1821 – 1854


There are also computer generated index of Baptisms and Marriages on microfiche for the Parish of Kilchoman as follows:
Baptisms1821 – 1854 #6900481 (1 fiche)                                                                                   Marriages 1821-1854 #69482 (1 fiche)