medieval-atlas/the-church/332

Transcription

Early Christianity 'Annat' comes from a Latin word itself a shortening of antiquitas, antiquity and seems to have been borrowed into Irish to mean the mother-church of a paruchia (that is a group of scattered monastic houses acknowledging a particular head). In Scotland where it is much more frequent than in Ireland, the distribution shows that it does not have this meaning. It is found in a few cases associated with an old graveyard, once with traces of a church building. Very rarely these Annat sites have a known dedication. Most Annats however are within one or two kilometres of, but not at, a church site, and it has been suggested that they represent the old (or former site of the) church. Although the word is Gaelic, it is thinly represented in Argyll, and it has been suggested that therefore it is later than the early phase of Christianising; it could represent dislocation caused by the Viking raids and settlements. This fits the Western Isles distribution, but not the eastern examples. Annat might therefore represent a very early graveyard, perhaps pre-Christian, abandoned gradually when an early church site was established, and in that case would belong to the seventh or eighth centuries. @ Annat names • Names including Annat eg Ach na hAnnaide, Annat Cottage Names including Annat near or a kms 0 25 50 75 100 cemetery or church site. I Doubtful names with Annat. 10 20 30 40 50 60 miles MMD Early Christianity: place-names containing annat in Scotland 332