New information on burial of clan chiefs at Ui church
Urras Eaglais na h-Aoidhe held its annual lecture recently and learned more about the history of the important Ui Church on the Aignish peninsula – including the likelihood that the ‘Sword Stone’ marks the exact burial spot of the clan chiefs of the Macleods of Lewis.
The coffin-shaped stone, decorated with a faintly-visible sword, was previously thought to have been linked to the Knights Templar.
But all the research now points to it marking the final resting place of the Macleod chiefs, with the sword believed to be a reference to one particular chief’s reputation as an excellent swordsman.
For Urras Eaglais na h-Aoidhe (the Ui Church Trust), which knew that Macleod clan chiefs were buried at Ui but not exactly where, it is valuable new information.
The links between Ui and the Macleod chiefs, including the importance of the Sword Stone, were the subject of this year’s Colm Cille lecture delivered by genealogist Andrew MacLeod.
Organised by the Ui Church Trust and held at Ionad Stoodie in Point earlier this month, it was sponsored once again by community wind farm charity Point and Sandwick Trust.
Mr MacLeod is the genealogy co-ordinator of the Associated Clan Macleod Societies and was put in touch with the Ui Church Trust through a mutual friend.
The Ui Church on the Aignish peninsula dates back to the 14th century and was one of the most important medieval churches in the Outer Hebrides. It is also one of the best preserved and there has been consolidation and conservation work to safeguard and protect the church building.
However, although the church was secured by works carried out in 2012 and 2015, the general site has not and coastal erosion continues to threaten the graveyard.
The trust’s honorary president, Colin Scott Mackenzie, said the new information about the Sword Stone was ‘vastly important’, adding: ‘The site is itself important, particularly for the parish of Stornoway as it was the parish church.
‘It was, in its day, the most important church in the Hebrides. It was the richest church in the Hebrides. It was burned down twice in its early days, possibly by the Vikings, and that it’s here at all is a wonder.’
Hundreds of bodies are known to lie at Ui – with a geophysical survey, a few years ago, establishing there were ‘layers upon layers’ of bodies, particularly at the church and close to it.
Trust secretary Liz Chaplin said the organisation now had to decide if it should move the stone and put it under shelter or leave it as it is.
Part of the church is roofed but the main section, which contains the Sword Stone, is unroofed.
‘Knowing the provenance of it is a huge thing for us. Tradition tells us the MacLeod chiefs were buried here but we never had the actual location for them until now,’ she added.