Peer-reviewed study confirms St. Moluag's monastery on Scotland's Isle of Lismore as a major early Christian centre

A peer-reviewed study published on Thursday, Oct. 1, in the archaeology journal Antiquity concludes that community-led excavations on the island of Lismore, in Argyll on Scotland's west coast, have uncovered the monastery of Lios Mòr. Historical records and local tradition say the monastery was founded in the sixth century by St. Mo Luóc, who is often called Moluag. According to Antiquity's press release, the authors conclude that the site was a "high-ranking ecclesiastical centre" of considerable wealth and influence. The Lismore Historical Society first announced the main finds in March 2024, The Scotsman reported at the time. The new paper sets out the evidence in a peer-reviewed journal.

According to the paper, Irish chronicles, including the Annals of Ulster, record Mo Luóc's death in entries that correspond to AD 593 or 594. He was part of a wave of new monasteries in the Gaelic-speaking world in the mid to late sixth century, the same period in which St. Columba founded Iona, around AD 563. Lismore lies at the mouth of Loch Linnhe and belonged to Dál Riata, an early medieval kingdom that took in Argyll, most of the Hebrides and part of what is now Northern Ireland. Until recent decades, the authors write, the monastery was known only from historical references and local tradition.

The search was a local effort. The paper says the Lismore Historical Society launched it in 2016. The excavations were led by Dr. Clare Ellis of Argyll Archaeology, working with volunteers. The team first examined the island's medieval cathedral, which mortar dating showed was built in the late 13th century. It then turned to a field below the present parish church, which is the surviving part of the cathedral. Robert (Bob) Hay of the society said in 2024, as The Scotsman reported, that an eighth-century burial found there in 2019 "showed that this was the right decision," but that the COVID-19 pandemic halted fieldwork until 2022. Antiquity describes Hay as a former island resident who organised the funding and volunteers, and he is a co-author of the paper. "The discoveries at Lismore demonstrate the value of community-led archaeology in advancing academic research," he said in Antiquity's release. Funders listed in the paper include the Lismore Gaelic Heritage Centre, the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, the Lismore Historical Society and the Leverhulme Trust, along with crowdfunding.

The paper describes several groups of finds:

- Burial grounds. An early medieval cemetery was enclosed by a limestone wall. Radiocarbon dates place the earliest burial tested between AD 650 and 780 and the latest between AD 900 and 1040. More burials lay around the Sanctuary Stone, a broken granite cross, and the team recovered three fragments of decorated early medieval cross-slabs.

- Early buildings. Geophysical survey and excavation found an oval stone building about 8 metres across, with deposits dated to the eighth to tenth centuries, and a rectangular building next to it.

- A metal workshop. Beside the oval building, the team found more than 1,000 fragments of metalworking debris, including crucibles, crucible lids and moulds for casting brooches, from layers dated to the seventh to ninth centuries. Chemical analysis showed that copper alloys were the main metals worked. A small number of crucibles, however, carried high levels of silver and gold, which the authors call "rare evidence of precious-metal casting." The authors say this may also explain an early medieval touchstone for testing gold that was found on Lismore in the 19th century and is now held by National Museums Scotland. Finely carved bone "motif pieces" were found as well. The authors say these may have been used to practise designs for metalwork.

Prof. Gordon Noble of the University of Aberdeen, the paper's senior author, told Scientific American that the metalwork is "one of the largest metalworking assemblages we have from any site, secular or sacred, in this time period." He said the findings suggest Lismore was "a very significant mover and shaker" in the spread of early Christianity in the region. "We can now see that it was a thriving centre of worship, craftsmanship and learning, whose importance may have rivalled some of the best-known monasteries in early medieval Britain," Noble said in Antiquity's release.

The authors are careful about what is still unknown. They write that "direct evidence" from the sixth century "remains elusive." The material they describe dates from the seventh to the tenth centuries, and they call the site "presumably" the one Mo Luóc founded. They also say the earliest church has not yet been found, though its most likely location is under the parish church graveyard. Noble told Scientific American that the team plans further work, including on the monastery's outer boundary, known as the vallum.