St Oran's Chapel, Iona

St Oran's Chapel, Iona

ID: PC_PRISCUS_SCO5289 DESCRIPTION: St. Oran's Chapel, Iona. It was taken by George Washington Wilson (1823 - 1893) an Aberdeen-based photographer who travelled extensively in Scotland, and abroad, taking landscape photographs with the aid of a portable darkroom. He photographed Queen Victoria and was commissioned by her to record the construction of Balmoral. Oran's Chapel is situated close to Iona Abbey. It was built in the twelfth century and is the oldest surviving ecclesiastical building on Iona. It is the burial place of the Macdonalds and the Lords of the Isles and is surrounded by Relig Odhran, the last resting place of forty-eight kings of Scotland, four Irish Princes, eight Norwegian kings, a king of France and many great Highland chiefs. A legend tells that Columba wished to build a chapel but the walls that were built during the day were brought down during the night by the powers of darkness. Columba had a vision which showed him that the only way to build the chapel was to offer a human sacrifice. One of the brethren, Oran, offered himself and was duly buried alive. The walls of the chapel then stood firm. Columba was so sorry at the loss of his friend that three days later he uncovered the grave. He heard the voice of Oran tell him that heaven and hell were not as had been supposed! Columba had the grave hastily filled in again. PLACENAME: Iona DISTRICT: Mull OLD COUNTY/PARISH: ARGYLL: Kilfinchen and Kilvickeon CREATOR (AV): George Washington Wilson PERIOD: 1880s (c.) SOURCE: Mark Butterworth - Priscus COLLECTION: Imaging the Past Asset ID: 29576 KEYWORDS: