Lismore family prepare to sell home after 1,500 years
IT IS claimed to be Britain’s oldest aristocratic title and church office – older than the Archbishop of Canterbury, dating back to a Celtic saint who founded a monastery on the Isle of Lismore in the Dark Ages – and the only title, besides the Queen’s, granted ‘by the grace of God’.
Now one chapter in the 1,500year history of the Baron of Bachuil and ‘heir’ or Coarb of St Moluag is closing, as another may be beginning.
Niall Livingstone, chief of ‘Argyll’s oldest clan’ Livingstone/ Mclea and Hereditable Keeper of the Pictish saint’s Great Staff or Bachuil Mor, is leaving his ancestral seat of Bachuil House on lands owned by his family since the sixth century – and he hopes to sell it as part of a community buy-out as an island hub.
The 63-year-old Abbot of Lismore told The Oban Times: ‘It is a very hard decision after 1,500 years. If this dream can be realised, then I think it could be the best thing to happen to the island since the arrival of St Moluag in 562.’
The Baron, who runs Bachuil Country House as an AA fourstar guesthouse with his wife, Baroness Anita, explained: ‘I am finding it too big for the two of us.’
He put the grade-B Victorian seat, plus barn, shed, garage, garden and nearby Hawthorn House on the market for a guide price of £910,000, but then withdrew them to give Lismore Community Trust (LCT) time to investigate the possibility of launching a buy-out.
The trust’s chairman, Sebastian Tombs, said its AGM, at Lismore Public Hall last Thursday, endorsed an exploration of the opportunities.
Lismore, which in Gaelic means ‘great garden’ or ‘great hillfort’, is 10 miles long and one mile wide and sits in the midst of the Lynn of Lorne at the end of the Great Glen fault, surrounded by the mountains of Mull and Morvern, with views up Loch Linnhe to Ben Nevis.
Mr Tombs, an architect and former chief executive of the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland, said: ‘We have had many consultations about facility gaps. Can the building and the land fill the gaps?’
Bachuil House could be used as an island hub for the 190-strong population, he said, providing a new hall and doctor’s surgery, a new store, a social gathering space, workspace units, and accommodation for old people and visitors to bring needed income to the island.
‘The trust is looking at the whole picture: to enhance life for everybody,’ he added. ‘It is a large project for a small community. We are pressing on with caution, but a lot of interest.’
Mr Livingstone said: ‘The project could give a much needed boost to the island economy, not only from its direct operations but could also generate a considerable boost to existing visitor attractions such as our award-winning heritage centre and accommodation providers.
‘We have a considerable number of visitors to the island who seldom move very far from the ferry terminals and contribute little financial benefit to the island. This is largely due to lack of opportunities for them to spend money, which, as can be seen from other islands, they are happy to do.
‘If the project was able to provide transport to the ferry terminals, it would not only boost revenue to the hub but also to the heritage centre. It could really add to the quality of life of the islanders and the visitor experience. I am very supportive of the ideas mooted.’
The connection between the Baron of Bachuil and Lismore will not be lost to history, however, for Mr Livingstone is keeping ‘most’ of his family’s land on Lismore, but, he said, St Moluag’s Great Staff will leave the island with them: ‘The staff stays with the Abbot.’