Inchmahome Priory

Inchmahome Priory stands on the largest of three islands in the centre of the Lake of Menteith near Aberfoyle. The name comes from the Gaelic Innis MoCholmaig, meaning island of St Colmaig. Founded in 1238 by Walter Comyn, Earl of Menteith, it housed a small group of Augustinian canons. The Comyns were among Scotland’s most powerful families and once had a country house on another island. Evidence suggests there may have been an earlier church on the site before the priory. Notable guests included King Robert the Bruce, who visited three times between 1306 and 1310. The future King Robert II stayed there in 1358, and the four-year-old Mary, Queen of Scots, took refuge in 1547 after the Battle of Pinkie. The priory declined after the Reformation when local landowners controlled appointments. By 1606 it passed to the Erskine family and later to the Marquess of Montrose before being taken into state care in 1926. Today much of the 13th-century structure remains, preserved by Historic Environment Scotland. The ruins include the chancel where Robert Bontine Cunninghame Graham and his wife are buried. A stone also commemorates his nephew, Admiral A.E.M.B. Cunninghame Graham. Visitors reach the priory by boat from the Port of Menteith, sailing across the calm waters of the lake.