Context
This page includes discussions of Caibeal Dhiarmaid, Caibeal nan Sagairt and Teampull Mor.

Howmore has aptly been described as ‘A small village in South Uist famous for its ruined churches and chapels’ ([simple_tooltip content='Hebridean Connections ‘Howmore’ (ID 47199), <https://www.hebrideanconnections.com/>.']Hebridean Connections[/simple_tooltip]). There are at least five potential structures of importance to consider, two churches and three chapels, but the identification and dating of these structures are problematic (discussed below). Its early history notwithstanding, Howmore emerges as one of the most prominent ecclesiastical sites in South Uist in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries ([simple_tooltip content='Parker Pearson, M., Sharples, N. & Symonds, J. 2004. South Uist: archaeology and history of a Hebridean island (Stroud); Stell, G. 2014. ‘Castle Tioram and the MacDonalds of Clanranald: A Western Seaboard Castle in Context’, Oram (ed.), The Lordship of the Isles, 271-96.']Parker Pearson 2004, 156; Stell 2014, 294[/simple_tooltip]).

The [simple_tooltip content='Six-inch 1^st edition Ordnance Survey Maps of Scotland, 1843-1882 <https://maps.nls.uk/os/6inch/index.html>.']OS 6-inch map[/simple_tooltip] only names three of the relevant names: Caibeal Dhiarmaid, Caibeal nan Sagairt and Teampull Mor. According to [simple_tooltip content='Stell, G. 2014. ‘Castle Tioram and the MacDonalds of Clanranald: A Western Seaboard Castle in Context’, Oram (ed.), The Lordship of the Isles, 271-96.']Stell (2014, 294)[/simple_tooltip] Caibeal Dhiarmaid is also known as Teampull Chaluim Chille, which would explain [simple_tooltip content='Martin, M. 1703. A Description of the Western Islands of Scotland (London).']Martin’s (1703, 88)[/simple_tooltip] statement that: ‘The Churches here [South Uist] are St. Columba and St. Mary’s in Hogh-more’. However, Martin goes on to reference ‘St. Jeremy’s Chapel’ which could conceivably refer to Caibeal Dhiarmaid. [simple_tooltip content='MacDonald, J.C. 2010. ‘Iona’s Local Associations in Argyll and the Isles, c1203-c1575’ (PhD Thesis, University of Glasgow).']MacDonald (2010, 251)[/simple_tooltip] has suggested that ‘St. Jeremy’s Chapel’ may not originally have been located at Howmore and that ‘it is possible that the name of this chapel [St. Jeremy’s] has been transferred to the church dedicated to Columba.’ Not appearing on the [simple_tooltip content='Six-inch 1^st edition Ordnance Survey Maps of Scotland, 1843-1882 <https://maps.nls.uk/os/6inch/index.html>.']OS 6-inch map[/simple_tooltip], to these should also be added *Caibeal Dubhghaill and *Caibeal Chlann ‘ic Ailein.

Discussion
Howmore and the Norse dimension
Although the ecclesiastical names are of primary interest here, it is worth paying some attention to the name of Howmore itself, which almost certainly is of Norse origin. The first element most likely represents ON haugr ‘a how, mound, cairn (over one dead)’, which is found in several linguistically similar formations in the Hebrides. This includes *Hogh Begh NL598875 on Barra ([simple_tooltip content='Ahronson, K. 2005. ‘Claiming a Wilderness: Atlantic Gaels and the Island Norse’ (PhD Thesis, University of Edinburgh).']Ahronson 2005, 91[/simple_tooltip]) and Ballyhough NM174579 on Coll ([simple_tooltip content='Johnston, A. 1990. ‘Norse settlement in the Inner Hebrides ca 800-1300 with special reference to the islands of Mull, Coll and Tiree’ (PhD Thesis, University of St Andrews).']Johnston 1990, 126[/simple_tooltip]). It is also worth noting that there is a Howbeg is located immediately south of Howmore (where the chapels are located).

[simple_tooltip content='Monro, D. 1884 (1549). Description of the Western Isles of Scotland, Called Hybrides (London).']Monro (1549, 48)[/simple_tooltip] refers to the parish as Howse which implies that before being incorporated into a Gaelic formation, the name likely existed as a Norse simplex-name: *Haugr ‘(The) Mound, Cairn’ (or possibly as plural *Haugar ‘(The) Mounds, Cairns’). This would be consistent with the use of this word as a simplex-name in Scandinavia ([simple_tooltip content='Cl.-Vig. Cleasby, R. & Vigfusson, G. 1874. An Icelandic-English Dictionary (Oxford).']Cl.-Vig.[/simple_tooltip]). Skerehowg recorded in [simple_tooltip content='RMS 2 = Paul, J.B. (ed.) Registrum magni sigilli regum Scotorum: The register of the Great seal of Scotland, A.D. 1306-1668, vol. 2 (Edinburgh), 484. This is the confirmation of a charter dated to 1469: see Acts of the Lords of the Isles (1986, 152-6).']1495[/simple_tooltip] refers refers to Howmore denoting [simple_tooltip content='Scottish Gaelic']G[/simple_tooltip] sgìre ‘a parish’ + *How ‘The Parish of How’ ([simple_tooltip content='ALI = Munro, J. and Munro R.W. (eds.) 1986. Acts of the Lords of the Isles, 1336-1493 (Edinburgh).']ALI, 156[/simple_tooltip]). As late as [simple_tooltip content='Carmichael, A. c1869 (2006). The Carmichael Watson Project (Coll-97/CW150/60) <http://129.215.17.128/cwatson/en/catalogueentry/5041/6/19/howmore/howmore/ALL>.']1869, Carmichael[/simple_tooltip] recounted a story where a daughter of Rìgh Lochlann named Mòr gives rise to the name Howmore after she ‘died and was buried at Hough’. In the story the simplex Hough is still used to refer to Howmore and may reflect a trace of the original name.

It is a difficult matter to establish a clear chronology of Christianity on this site and the Norse dimension may add further questions rather than provide any definite answers. The two key questions here are: 1. what does the haugr in the name denote in the context of this name, and 2. what can the Norse dimension of Howmore tell us about the chronology of settlement and Christianity here? [simple_tooltip content='Old Norse']ON[/simple_tooltip] haugr is used to denote a mound, cairn, or hill. Typically, such (burial) cairns appear to commonly denote pre-Christian burials (see [simple_tooltip content='Cl.-Vig. Cleasby, R. & Vigfusson, G. 1874. An Icelandic-English Dictionary (Oxford).']Cl.-Vig.[/simple_tooltip] ‘the burying in cairns was typical of the heathen age’.

The ecclesiastical structures at Howmore
Linguistically, the other place-names are unproblematic, and all contain a generic element denoting them as ecclesiastical sites ([simple_tooltip content='Scottish Gaelic']G[/simple_tooltip] caibeal ‘a chapel’ and [simple_tooltip content='Scottish Gaelic']G[/simple_tooltip] teampall ‘a church, temple’). However, the use of caibeal may be significant (see discussion below). As stated above, the ecclesiastical complex at Howmore emerges as a prominent religious centre in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, but the archaeological evidence reveals it as a site of earlier importance. The site was surveyed in 2003-2004 and the ‘remains comprise four medieval buildings surviving to varying degrees and two post-medieval burial enclosures, sited on an eminence and now largely enclosed by a wall of 19^th-century origin.’ ([simple_tooltip content='Reynolds, A., Hamilton, M. and Raven, J. 2004. ‘Howmore ecclesiastical complex’, Discovery and Excavation in Scotland 5, 139–40.']Reynolds, Hamilton, and Raven 2004, 139[/simple_tooltip]). Caibeal Dhiarmaid (or *Teampull Chaluim Chille) along with Teampull Mor are generally thought to represent the earliest surviving structural evidence, being dated to the thirteenth century, but  Teampull Mor may in fact be of a later date ([simple_tooltip content='Reynolds, A., Hamilton, M. and Raven, J. 2004. ‘Howmore ecclesiastical complex’, Discovery and Excavation in Scotland 5, 139-40; Stell, G. 2014. ‘Castle Tioram and the MacDonalds of Clanranald: A Western Seaboard Castle in Context’, Oram (ed.), The Lordship of the Isles, 271-96']Reynolds, Hamilton, and Raven 2004, 139-40; also see Stell 2014, 294[/simple_tooltip]). Additionally, Reynolds, Hamilton, and Raven ([simple_tooltip content='Reynolds, A., Hamilton, M. and Raven, J. 2004. ‘Howmore ecclesiastical complex’, Discovery and Excavation in Scotland 5, 139-40.']2004, 140[/simple_tooltip]) have argued that *Caibeal Chlann ‘ic Ailein (also known as the Clan Ranald burial chapel) and *Caibeal Dubhghaill, along with Caibeal Dhiarmaid, exhibit evidence of a structural phase prior to the thirteenth century. Sculptural evidence at Howmore include a late medieval graveslab recorded in 1866 and a cross-marked stone ([simple_tooltip content='Fisher, I. 2001. Early medieval sculpture in the West Highlands and Islands (Edinburgh).']Fisher 2001, 108[/simple_tooltip]), further attesting the presence of early Christianity at Howmore (see picture).

Caibeal Dhiarmaid and Fr Dermot Duggan
Caibeal Dhiarmaid is of particular interest for several reasons. Firstly, the generic, G caibeal ‘a chapel’ is an uncommon one and the place-names at Howmore are the only instances included in this survey of Uist. A vast majority of the place-names with medieval dedications are represented by an original cill and the use of caibeal may therefore be significant. Unfortunately, this place-name does not have an abundance of early forms and the possibility that it originally had a different first element should be kept in mind, a process frequently found in cill-names. This is particularly relevant if we consider the possibility of Caibeal Dhiarmaid referring to an original dedication to Columba. It is worth noting that [simple_tooltip content='DoSH Butter, R., Clancy, T.O. & Márkus, G. 2010-3. ‘Commemorations of Saints in Scottish Place-Names’ <https://www.saintsplaces.gla.ac.uk/>.']DoSH[/simple_tooltip] only records a total of four hagiotoponyms in Scotland using caibeal as a generic (Caibeal Catriona (Kintyre), Caibeal Chiarain (Argyll), and Caibeal Eoin (Arran) in addition to Caibeal Dhiarmaid). Little can be said about the caibeal-sites other than a relatively lack of any archaeological evidence or pre-nineteenth-century documentary evidence, which in itself may be telling. One explanation could be that the use of caibeal should be viewed in the context of Howmore as a larger complex of church-structures. In this case, the chapel appears to have been named in commemoration of Fr Dermot Duggan, an Irish missionary who arrived in the Hebrides in the mid-17^th century (see Diarmaid).

Howmore and Iona
Howmore must have been associated with Clanranald at least by the mid-sixteenth century when [simple_tooltip content='Monro, D. 1884 (1549). Description of the Western Isles of Scotland, Called Hybrides (London).']Monro (1549, 48)[/simple_tooltip] wrote that ‘the parochin of Howse, and the mayne land of the mid countrey callit Mackermeanache, perteins to Clanronald, halding of the Clandonald.’ By the reformation ‘the parsonage of Howmore pertained to the abbot of Iona, the customary third of the teinds going to the bishop of the Isles’ (Cowan 1967, quoted in [simple_tooltip content='MacDonald, J.C. 2010. ‘Iona’s Local Associations in Argyll and the Isles, c1203-c1575’ (PhD Thesis, University of Glasgow).']MacDonald 2010, 251[/simple_tooltip]), but continued to be firmly associated with Clanranald, a benefactor of Iona ([simple_tooltip content='MacDonald, J.C. 2010. ‘Iona’s Local Associations in Argyll and the Isles, c1203-c1575’ (PhD Thesis, University of Glasgow).']MacDonald 2010, 86-7; 251[/simple_tooltip]). However, the ties with Iona likely pre-date the reformation as evidenced by the dedication to St. Columba which may have considerably earlier roots.

Other Sources
Caibeal Dhiarmaid (Ruins of) ‘This name signifies "Dermid's Chapel" and applies to one, of three ruins, which are pointed out as being the remains of Chapels, or Churches, of olden times, of this one, nothing now remains, but the foundation which is quite visible.’ ([simple_tooltip content='OS Name Books, Inverness-shire Ordnance Survey Name Books, 1876-1878. ScotlandsPlaces <https://scotlandsplaces.gov.uk/digital-volumes/ordnance-survey-name-books/inverness-shire-os-name-books-1876-1878>.']OS Name Books OS1/18/10/128[/simple_tooltip])

‘The Churches here [in South Uist] are St. Columba and St. Mary’s in Hogh-more, the most centrical place in the Island; St. Jeremy’s Chapels, St. Peter’s, St. Bannan, St. Michael, St. Donnan’ ([simple_tooltip content='Martin, M. 1703. A Description of the Western Islands of Scotland (London).']Martin 1703, 88[/simple_tooltip])

Other Resources
Saints in Scottish Place-Names Caibeal Dhiarmaid, South Uist
Canmore ID 9869, 9870, 9871, 9872, 9873, 9874