# Cathan

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{{Short description|Irish monk and saint of the 6th century}}
{{for|the place in the U.S. state of Washington|Cathan, Washington}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox saint
| honorific_prefix = [Saint](/source/Saint) |name=Cathan
|birth_date  = Unknown
|death_date  = Unknown
|feast_day   = 17 May
|venerated_in= [Scottish Episcopal Church](/source/Scottish_Episcopal_Church)
[Roman Catholic Church](/source/Roman_Catholic_Church)
[Eastern Orthodox Church](/source/Eastern_Orthodox_Church)
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'''Saint Cathan''', also known as '''Catan''', '''Cattan''', etc., was a 6th-century Irish monk revered as a [saint](/source/saint) in parts of the Scottish [Hebrides](/source/Hebrides).

== Source material ==
This saint appears in the ''[Aberdeen Breviary](/source/Aberdeen_Breviary)'', [Walter Bower](/source/Walter_Bower)'s ''[Scotichronicon](/source/Scotichronicon)'', and the ''[Acta Sanctorum](/source/Acta_Sanctorum)''. A number of placenames in western Scotland are associated with him.<ref>Innes, p. 210.</ref><ref>Butler, p. 239.</ref>

== Gaelic Christianity ==
He is said to have been one of the first [Irish missionaries](/source/Hiberno-Scottish_mission) to come to the [Isle of Bute](/source/Isle_of_Bute), then part of the Gaelic Kingdom of [Dál Riata](/source/D%C3%A1l_Riata).

Very little is known of him; he is generally mentioned only in connection with his more famous nephew [Saint Blane](/source/Saint_Blane), who was born on Bute and later proselytized among the [Picts](/source/Picts). Both saints were strongly associated with Bute and with [Kingarth](/source/Kingarth) monastery, which became the center of their cults.<ref name=Mackinlay104>Mackinlay, p. 104.</ref><ref>Innes, pp. 210–211</ref>

A number of churches were dedicated to Cathan across Scotland's western islands. 
* ''Tobar Chattan'', or Cathan's Well, at Little Kilchattan on Bute may represent the site of Cathan's original church.<ref name=Mackinlay104/> 
* Other churches, now in ruins, include [St Cathan's Chapel](/source/St_Cathan's_Chapel) on [Colonsay](/source/Colonsay), 
* [Kilchattan Chapel](/source/Kilchattan_Chapel) on [Gigha](/source/Gigha), and 
* Kilchattan Church on [Luing](/source/Luing).<ref>Mackinlay, pp. 104–105.</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Historic Environment Scotland|NR39NE 7}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Historic Environment Scotland|NR64NW 1}}</ref> The Luing church served the historical Kilchattan parish; the modern Kilchattan Church was built at Achafolla in 1936.<ref>{{harvnb|Historic Environment Scotland|NM71SW 43}}</ref>

Cathan is said to have lived for a time at the monastery at [Stornoway](/source/Stornoway) on the isle of [Lewis](/source/Isle_of_Lewis), and his [relic](/source/relic)s are said to have been housed at a chapel founded by [Clan MacLeod](/source/Clan_MacLeod_of_Lewis) on the same island.<ref name=Mackinlay105>Mackinlay, p. 105.</ref>

== Impact ==
===Landscape===
Cathan's name survives in the various [toponym](/source/toponym)s in the area containing the element ''Chattan'' (where the first consonant is [lenited](/source/lenition)), such as:

* many places called Kilchattan ("Church of Cathan")
* [Ardchattan](/source/Ardchattan) ("Cathan's Heights") 
* the village of [Kilchattan Bay](/source/Kilchattan_Bay)
* Little and Mickle Kilchattan farms
* names of the hill of ''Suidhe Chattan''
* Suidhe Chatain Hill in Bute.<ref>Hewison, James. King; The Isle of Bute in the Olden Time, with illustrations, maps and plans Vol 1 Celtic Saints and Heroes, Published by William Blackwood and sons, Edinburgh and London, 1893</ref>

all on Bute.<ref name=Mackinlay104/>

===Feast day===
His feast day is 17 May.<ref>Orthodox England. ''[http://www.orthodoxengland.org.uk/saintsc.htm Cathan (Catan, Chattan, Cadan) May 17].'' Latin Saints of the Orthodox Patriarchate of Rome.</ref> 

===Later Highland clan development===
Several families on Bute bore the honoured name of Mac-gill-chattan—son of the servant of Catan and on account of the frequent occurrence of names similarly connected with those of saints who had churches dedicated to them in this vicinity e.g., Mac-gill-munn, Macgill-chiaran, Mac-gill-mhichell,—and connected with church offices, Mac-gill-espy (bishop), Mac-gill-Christ etc. 

Cattanachs are said to be families that followed or were originally servants or [Coarbs](/source/Coarb) of this saint and include founder families such as Macbean, MacPherson, and MacPhail<ref>{{cite book |last1=Mackintosh |first1=Alexander |title=Historical Memoirs of the House and Clan of Mackintosh and of the Clan Chattan |date=1880 |location=London |page=520 |url=https://archive.org/details/historicalmemoir00mack/page/521/mode/2up?q=cattanachs |access-date=24 October 2022}}</ref> of the [Chattan Confederation](/source/Chattan_Confederation), a coalition of [Scottish clans](/source/Scottish_clans).<ref name=Mackinlay105/>

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
* "The Statistical Account of Buteshire", 1822, from ''Creag Dubh'', No. 18 (1966)
*{{cite book |title= The Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Other Principal Saints|last= Butler|first=Alban |year= 1815|publisher= J. Murphy|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=56A9AAAAYAAJ|access-date=January 12, 2010}}
*{{cite book |title= Origines parochiales Scotiae|last= Innes|first=Cosmo|author-link= Cosmo Innes|year= 1854|publisher= W.H. Lizars|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=Nn7lAAAAMAAJ|access-date=January 12, 2010|volume=2|display-authors=etal}}
*{{Historic Environment Scotland|cat=PLA |num=37879 |num2=NR39NE 7 |desc=Colonsay, Kilchattan, Old Parish Church And Well |access-date=4 July 2025}}
*{{Historic Environment Scotland|cat=PLA |num=38518 |num2=NR64NW 1 |desc=Gigha, St Cathan's Church And Kilchattan Burial Ground |access-date=4 July 2025 |fewer-links=yes}}
*{{Historic Environment Scotland|cat=PLA |num=332655 |num2=NM71SW 43 |desc=Luing, Kilchattan Church |access-date=4 July 2025 |fewer-links=yes}}
*{{cite book |title= Influence of the Pre-Reformation Church on Scottish Place-names|last= Mackinlay|first=James Murray |year= 1904|publisher= W. Blackwood|url= https://archive.org/details/influencepreref00mackgoog|access-date=January 12, 2010}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cathan}}
Category:Medieval Irish saints
Category:Medieval Scottish saints
Category:6th-century Irish Christian clergy
Category:Irish expatriates in Scotland
Category:History of Argyll and Bute
Category:People from the Isle of Bute
Category:6th-century Christian saints
Category:6th-century Scottish bishops
Category:Clan Chattan

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Cathan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathan) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathan?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.