Isle of Eigg

St Donnan’s Roman Catholic Church

A small white Arts and Crafts chapel of 1910 in Cleadale, named for Eigg's seventh-century saint.

Welcome

St Donnan's is Eigg's Catholic church, a small white chapel in Cleadale in the north of the island, built in 1910 in the Arts and Crafts style.

It stands among old pines inside a stone wall, with a bellcote and cross on its gable and a round window over the door, and the cliffs above the township rise behind it.

Inside it is plain and full of light: whitewashed walls, a timber roof, rows of wooden pews and small pointed windows, with the altar set beneath a round window of coloured glass. It takes its name from St Donnan, who brought Christianity to Eigg in the seventh century and died in 617. The monastery he founded came under Iona and flourished, and Kildonnan, in the south-east of the island, is thought to be where it stood; its ruined chapel and graveyard, with a carved cross from the days of the Lordship of the Isles, are worth the walk too. The Bay of Laig is a short walk from the church.

Before you go

The church is in Cleadale, at the north end of the island road, about four and a half miles from the pier: an hour and a half to two hours on foot, or hire a bike at the pier.

No opening hours are published. Kildonnan, the site of the old chapel and graveyard, is in the south-east of the island, nearer the pier.

Getting there: CalMac ferry from Mallaig; the Sheerwater from Arisaig, April to September. No visitor cars.
Where: Cleadale, the north end of the island road.
From the pier: 1.5 to 2 hours on foot.
Also: Kildonnan chapel and graveyard.