Bill Skeoch
Chuimein
CHUIMEIN
Cill Chuimein was named after Saint Chuimein who was the seventh abbot of Iona in 699AD. He was the nephew of a previous abbot of Iona, Ségéne who had a blood link to Saint Columba. Chuimein had followed in the footsteps of his predecessor, St. Columba, to the South end of Loch Ness. Here Cuimein set up a chapel which is thought to have been in the area of the Burial Ground of what is now Fort Augustsus. The last likely evidence of this church was removed by the Dowager Lady Lovat in 1559 when she took the ancient chapel bell to place it in the Lovat church in Glen Conveth near Beauly. The bell was lost overboard during a storm as she passed down Loch Ness. The bell no doubt still lies at the foot of the loch.