Logykenny.

The church of Logykenny or Laggan is considered to be one of the oldest in the land. St Killen's Church, "the little aul' Kirk of Laggan," is worth notice. The dedication is to St Cainnech of Achadh Bó, who is known in Scotland as St Kenneth, which may reflect the ancient royal connections of the area (see below). Kenneth had been a schoolmate of St Columba and was a most popular saint in Scotland being remembered at Cambuskenneth as well as at a number of other sites across the country and in the Western Isles. He seems to have had Pictish ancestry and he certainly had the very important advantage of being able to speak the Pictish tongue.

Lagán signifies a lochside hollow.

The ivy-clad remains of St Kenneth's church at Laggan.

In 1239 the church was granted as a 'common' church of the Canons of the Cathedral the parsonage and vicarage tithes being assigned.

In the loch is Eilean an Righ (King's Island) also called Castle Fergus, thought to be named after Fergus Mor, King of the Scots who had come from Ireland c.500AD, who is said to have used this as a hunting-seat. Several early monarchs are said to have been buried here. The adjacent isle, Eilean nan Con (Dog's Island) is said to have been Fergus' dog kennel. On the Ardverikie estate, near the house, is "Fergus' Hill." Shaw states that, In the midst of the Coillmore is a place distinguished by the name of Ard Merigie, "the height for rearing the standard." It has been held sacred from remote antiquity, as the burial-place of seven Caledonian kings; who, according to tradition, lived about the period when the Scots, driven northwards of the Tay by the Picts, held their seat of government at Dunkeld. Near by is also Loch an Righ. The kings, it is said, and their retinue, hunted on the banks of the lake for the greater part of almost every summer." Much of the more remote parts of the medieval parish were summer shielings and hunting country, and the church must have struggled to survive in such a sparsely populated region. However, accepting the earlier history, it was probably much more densely populated especially when the king was present and it is not surprising to find a church here, especially with 'connections' that would have made him a most acceptable patron to the Scots.

 

Early grave-marker.	Ivy clad interior with Macpherson of Strathmashie enclosure.	Holy water stoup or font set into the door jamb.

 

The location of the church is not signed and many fans of the television program "Monarch of the Glen" fail to realise its proximity when they stop to take photographs of the gate-lodge and entrance to Ardverikie. It lies up the track almost exactly opposite the gate-lodge - a track which looks to lead only to the private house (Aberarder Lodge) but which, if followed for a little distance, arrives at the quiet greenery of the graveyard.

There is a traditional story that the church was built by one Allan nan Creagh, a noted freebooter, in repentance for deeds done, at the behest of a witch in the shape of a cat - the cat, of course, being the emblem of the Macphersons, like other Clan Chattan tribes - with picturesque details about roasting another cat on a spit, while a concourse of sympathetic animals chanted "Bad treatment of a cat!" (Naturally, in Gaelic). However, the church was here long before Allan's time.

There is said to have been a chapel of St Michael (NN587938) (NN59SE 1) of which only the graveyard and some tombstones now remain.