Butter, Rachel (2007) Cill- names and saints in Argyll: a way towards understanding the early church in Dál Riata? PhD thesis http://theses.gla.ac.uk/4509/ Copyright and moral rights for this thesis are retained by the author A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the Author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the Author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given Glasgow Theses Service http://theses.gla.ac.uk/
[email protected] Cill- names and Saints in Argyll: a way towards understanding the early church in Dal Riata? Rachel Butter Thesis presented for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, Department of Celtic, University of Glasgow. ©Rachel Butter, 11th June 2007 Abstract Place-names containing Gaelic eill are common throughout the Gaelic-speaking world. In the area of Argyll chosen by the present study, the second element of such names (eill + X) is nearly always the name of a saint. This thesis sets out to discover what these eill- names and their associated dedications to saints might contribute to the study of the early church in oat Riata. It tests the evidence in a variety of ways. Oetailed studies are made of three saints who seem to be culted in or near the chosen three areas of study.