Diocese of Dunkeld

Diocese of Dunkeld
Head	Bishop of Dunkeld
Archdeacon(s)	Archdeacon of Dunkeld
Known rural deans	Angus (Rattray); Atholl; Drumalban; Fife & Fothriff; Lothian; Strathearn
First attestation	865 x 1114
Metropolitan before 1472	None
Metropolitan after 1492	Archbishop of Glasgow (until 1515); Archbishop of St Andrews (after 1515)
Cathedral	Dunkeld Cathedral
Dedication	Columba
Canons	Secular
Mensal churches	Abercorn, Aberdalgie, Aberlady, Alyth, Auchtergaven, Bunkle, Caputh, Cargill, Cramond, Dowally, Dunkeld, Forgandenny, Killespick-Kyril, Little Dunkeld, Obney, Pitcairn, Preston, Strathmiglo, Tibbermore
Common churches	Auchterhouse, Fortingall, Meigle, Saline
Prebendal churches	Aberlady, Alyth, Auchtergave, Clunie (Dean), Crieff, Dowally, Dunkeld (Treasurer), Fearn, Forgandenny, Inchaiden (Dean), Kinclaven (chanter), Lagganallachie (Archdeacon), Lethendy, (Chancellor), Little Dunkeld (Treasurer), Logiebride, Lumdeiff, Menmuir, Moneylie, Muckersie, Obney, Rattray (succentor), Tealing (Archdeacon)
Catholic successor	Merged into resurrected Roman Catholic Diocese of Dunkeld, March 4, 1878
Episcopal successor	Diocese of Saint Andrews, Dunkeld and Dunblane

56°33′54″N 3°35′06″W / 56.565°N 3.585°W / 56.565; -3.585

The Diocese of Dunkeld was one of the 13 historical dioceses of Scotland preceding the abolition of Episcopacy in 1689.

History

It is thought that the diocese was constituted as far back as the middle of the ninth century. The first occupant was styled Bishop of Fortriu, the name by which the kingdom of the northern Picts was then known. This bishop was also styled Abbot of Dunkeld, perhaps holding jurisdiction, formerly enjoyed by Iona, over the other Columban monasteries in Scotland.

The new bishopric appears to have included a great part of what afterwards became the Diocese of Argyll, and retained its jurisdiction over various churches representing old Columban foundations. There were thirty-five bishops of Dunkeld from its foundation until the suppression of the Catholic hierarchy during the Protestant Reformation in the sixteenth century.

The Catholic cathedral, situated in the Perthshire town of Dunkeld, was erected between 1220 and 1500. After the Reformation the cathedral fell partly into ruins, although the choir is used for Presbyterian worship.

Despite the Reformation and the hostility of the new Church of Scotland to bishops, episcopacy was not finally abolished until 1689, although there had been a temporary abolition from 1638 until the beginning of the 1660s. The diocese was restored by the Catholic Church (with a different boundary), on 4 March 1878, by Pope Leo XIII. The new Roman Catholic Diocese of Dunkeld is one of the suffragan sees of the archiepiscopal province of St. Andrews and Edinburgh, and includes the counties of Perth, Angus, Clackmannan, Kinross, and the northern part of Fife. The diocesan cathedral, now dedicated to Saint Andrew rather than Columba, is located in Dundee, the residence of the great majority of the Catholics of the modern diocese. The cathedral chapter, erected in 1895, consists of a provost and eight canons.

Bishops

Parishes

The partially ruined, partially restored Cathedral of St Columba at Dunkeld. It now operates as a Church of Scotland church.

Deanery/ies of Angus (or Rattray)

Deanery of Atholl and Drumalban

Alyth
Ardeonaig
Auchtergaven
Bendochy
Blair (now Blair Atholl)
Cargill
Clunie
Dull
Dunkeld Cathedral
Fortingall
Dunkeld, Holy Trinity
Inchcadin (now Kenmore)
Killin
Kilmaveonaig
Kinclaven
Lethendy
Little Dunkeld
Logie Allochie (now Lagganallachy)
Logiebride
Logierait
Lude
Lundeiff (now Kinloch)
Meigle
Melginch (now St. Martins)
Moneydie
Moulin
Rannoch (or Killichonen)
Rattray
Redgorton
Ruthven
Strathardle (now or Kirkmichael)
Struan
Weem

Deanery of Fife and Fothriff

Deanery of Lothian

Deanery of Strathearn

Bibliography

Cowan, Ian B., The Parishes of Medieval Scotland, Scottish Record Society, Vol. 93, (Edinburgh, 1967)
Watt, D.E.R., Fasti Ecclesiae Scotinanae Medii Aevi ad annum 1638, 2nd Draft, (St Andrews, 1969), pp. 138–9