Old Photograph Parish Church Kirkmaiden Scotland

Old photograph of the Parish Church in Kirkmaiden near Drummore, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. The parish church was originally some five miles south of Drummore, at a site on the Kirkburn, not far from the Mull of Galloway; the name of the nearest cove, Portankill, suggests that originally many worshippers attended Mass by boat. The church was dedicated to the Virgin Mary; and in a cave on the eastern shore of the parish at some time a hermit lived. On 15 July 1393 Pope Clement VII authorised Finlay, Abbot of Soulseat, to annex Kirkmaiden parish church in le Rynnis to augment the income of the abbey. In 1638 the parishioners, citing the inconvenience of the journey to church, secured the building of a new church known as Kirk Covenant on Core Hill, about a mile west of Drummore. The patron was the Earl of Stair. The French privateer François Thurot was reportedly buried in Kirkmaiden in 1760. Following the Disruption of 1843, a new church was again built, for worshippers in the Free Church of Scotland, and this time in the village itself, in the street now known as Stair Street. Early in the 20th century the two congregations were reunited. Now worship is habitually at the church within Drummore, with one service each month in the summer being held at Kirk Covenant.



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