A brief History of the Diocese Home Who's Who History Publications News & Events Prayer Churches Bishop's Blog Oban Cathedral Cathedral of the Isles Retreats Belltower Companion Dioceses Gaelic There were no dioceses as we know them in Scotland at the time of the celtic church, the bishop, simply a sacramental minister within the monastic communities and the church being lead/governed by the abbots, who were usuually from the powerful families e.g. Columba. Only very gradually did the typical western pattern come into being with defined diocesan areas and bishops in charge of them. This was the work of Queen Margaret. In our area, it was even more complex as the church here came under the Norse rulers. Sodor being their southern isles. According to Donald, Argyll only became a separate diocese from Dunkeld when the bishop there appointed his gaelic speaking chaplain as the first bishop with the Cathedral on Lismore and it was in the Time of King Charles I that Iona became the cathedral of The Isles. For a brief while before that the cathedral was in the north of Skye Then with the establishment of the Presbyterian system in 1689 all began to change again. Refering now to David Bertie's book Scottish Episcopal Clergy 1689 - 2000 The See of Argyll was vacant in 1689 and the Bishop of The Isles died in 1702 and the whole area was administered from Ross or Moray or Caithness until 1847 when the present diocese was formed. This page is currently being developed but for fuller information about the Celtic Church, we recommend Bishop Dowden's book.