Loch Lomond, Inchmurrin, St. Mirren's Chapel

NS38NE 7 37982 87186

(NS 3798 8719) Chapel (NR) (Site of)

OS 6" map (1923)

St Mirren's Chapel stands in ruins of Inchmurrin and is probably of much older date than the castle erected there by the Earls of Lennox (Dunbar 14 NW 3 - 14th century).

Orig Paroch Scot 1850

A small piece of ground near the centre of Inchmurrin supposed to have been used, with St Mirren's Chapel stood on the Island, as a burying ground. There are now no traces of any building, nor does any person in the neighbourhood recollect seeing any.

Name Book 1859

The ruins of a chapel, dedicated to St Mirren, were formerly to be seen near the castle.

J G Smith 1896

A small enclosure, c.15m square, the north and south walls being c.2m wide and 0.5m high and consisting of large stones, the east and west walls being turf covered. There is no trace of an entrance. The site is densely overgrown by bracken, but there are no indications of a building site.

Visited by OS (DS) 1 October 1956

As described by OS (DS).

Surveyed at 1/10,000.

Visited by OS (IA) 22 March 1973

Site recorded during The Loch Lomond Islands survey, a three-phase archaeological assessment of the islands and crannogs in Loch Lomond.

NS 3801 8719 Stone revetted platform 'Burial Ground'.

Sponsor: Friends of Loch Lomond

F Baker 1995.

NS 3801 8719. The stone revetted platform traditionally known as the 'Burial Ground'. Described as such in the 1859 Name Book which also records no buildings stand on the mound or are within living memory. The 1956 OS surveyor describes the site as a small enclosure 15m square with walls constructed of large stones on the N and S sides 2m wide and 0.5m high. The E and W walls are turf covered, no trace of an entrance or any buildings and overgrown by dense bracken. The description had not changed when the OS visited again in 1973.

The Paisley Abbey choir comes to worship here every year on St Mirren's day.

The burial ground is more or less as described by the OS surveyors. However there is no definable wall on the E side where the raised platform merges into the natural ground surface. The bracken is now restricted to the walls and the grassed platform, which shows no features, is used as a feeding stance for the cattle. The platform also provides dry ground in the boggy field. At the SW corner there is a curved platform of c.9m diameter adjacent to the main platform. The W wall is a tumbled turf covered bank without a clear stone wall. Orientated NW to SE at 322 degrees. 21m NW to SE by 18.5m NE to SW over walls 2m thick.

FIRAT 1995; NMRS MS/993/2