Historic Kilbride – Clan Graves and Lunch in Lerags Glen
A few hours.
The route
Just south of Oban, Lerags Glen keeps a church site far older than the town: the roofless kirk of Kilbride, where the chiefs of Clan MacDougall lie among carved stones centuries old.
A few minutes away, the Barn at Cologin is a country pub in an old cattle byre, with a fire on colder days and a warm welcome for dogs. It's a peaceful weekend outing, with a pub lunch to finish.
Before you go
Book accommodation nearby
If you are staying over: here are ours nearest where the day starts and ends.
The day
Lerags
A quiet few hours in the glen just south of Oban. Wander among the old stones and the clan chiefs' aisle at Kilbride, then settle in at the Barn for lunch.
About two hoursAbout 0.5 miles on foot
Historic Kilbride
An attraction
Kilbride lies down the single-track road into Lerags Glen, signed for Lerags off the A816, with a good car park by the information boards. There has been a church on this spot since at least the 6th century, and the roofless kirk standing now was built in 1706 on the footprint of a 13th-century one. The chiefs of Clan MacDougall lie in their memorial aisle among some 300 others, and carved medieval grave slabs lean in the long grass. It's free, with donations welcome, cared for by the Friends of Kilbride, whose website has a digital tour of the site in fifteen stations. The Lerags Cross of 1516, broken at the Reformation and pieced together again, stands a short walk away. The ground is rough grass among the stones, so it's no place for a wheelchair, and there are no toilets. Three-quarters of an hour is about right, in daylight.
3 min by car
The Barn at Cologin
Lunch
Drive 3 minutes on to the Barn at Cologin, a converted cattle byre among holiday lodges, where a fire burns on colder days and dogs are made welcome. From October to Easter it serves lunch on Fridays and Saturdays from noon to 2.30pm, and on Sundays from noon, with food served until 8pm. It's shut from Monday to Wednesday through the winter, and for the whole of January.
If it rains
Kilbride is all outdoors and the grass is long, so in rain keep the wander short and let lunch by the Barn's fire run long.
The Barn at Cologin, a restaurant in Oban.