Kilmeny Lies in the north east part of the Island of Islay, above Kilarrow and to the east of Kilchoman. It is a very ancient parish.
According to the Scotland's Places site http://www.scotlandsplaces.gov.uk the parish of Kilmeny was annexed into Kilarrow before 1550.
The present church was built in 1828. According to the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland site http://canmore.rcahms.gov.uk its medieval predecessor is located about 400 meters away within the old graveyard. The newer church and manse wwere built to serve the north portion of the joint parish of Kilarrow and Kilmeny. In 1849 this portion of the parish became the quoad sacra parish of Kilmeny. Kilmeny parish was linked with Kilchoman and Portnahaven in 2006.
There are many historical and archaeological sites in the parish, notably at Finlaggan, the historic base of the Lords of the Isles. The Wikipedia page titled Finallagean gives us this information :
Finlaggan (Scottish Gaelic: Port an Eilein) is a historic site on the Eilean Mòr in Loch Finlaggan. Loch, island, and castle lie around two km to the northwest of Ballygrant on Islay.
Finlaggan was the seat of the Lords of the Isles and of Clan Donald. The site has been the subject of recent archaeological investigations…..
Two of the three islands that lie in the expansive scenery surrounding Loch Finlaggan, Eilean Mor (large island) and Eilean na Comhairle (council isle), were the ancient administration centre of the Lordship of the Isles during mostly the 13th, 14th and 15th centuries.
Still today, the islands contain remains of the buildings from where the Lords ruled the Hebrides and part of the west coast of Scotland, immensely contributing to the arts, culture and politics of Scotland.
The stone walls of a medieval chapel dedicated to St. Findlugan on Eilean Mor have been stabilisedI seem to recall seeing Kilmeny also being referred to as Kilmenzie or something very similar in some very old records or references.
The parish records for Kilmeny do not seem to reflect its ancient existence. They do not begin until 1802, long after both Kildalton and Kilarrow records began. The number assigned to the Parish of Kilmeny is #543. You can find these records on FHL film # 1041080 Items 1 and 2
Item 1 – Baptisms Volume 1 1802 -1819
Item 2 – Baptisms Volume 2 1820 -1854 and 1869
You will note that there are no marriage records. I do not know if they did once exist but are no longer available or if it is possible that marriages were recorded in other parish records such as Kilarrow or Kilchoman. A knowledgeable researcher would always check the parishes next door if the records they are seeking do not seem to be in the parish being searched. This would hold true for Kilmeny records both before and after the commencement of its parish register.
There are no separate index mircrofiche for the Parish of Kilmeny records as there are in some of the other parishes
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