Christianity in Scotland

Christianity was first introduced to what is now southern Scotland during the Roman occupation of Britain. Missionaries from Ireland in the fifth century, such as St. Ninian, St. Kentigern (St. Mungo), and St. Columba, are often credited with spreading Christianity in the region. However, these figures appeared in areas where churches were already established, indicating an earlier introduction of Christianity.

From the fifth to the seventh centuries, Irish-Scots missions, particularly associated with St. Columba, played a significant role in converting Scotland to Christianity. These missions often established monastic institutions and collegiate churches. This period saw the development of a distinctive form of Celtic Christianity, where abbots held more authority than bishops, clerical celibacy was less strict, and there were differences in practices such as the form of tonsure and the calculation of Easter. By the mid-seventh century, most of these differences had been resolved, and Celtic Christianity accepted Roman practices.

Monasticism heavily influenced early Christianity in Scotland, with abbots being more prominent than bishops, though both Kentigern and Ninian were bishops. The exact nature and structure of the early medieval church in Scotland remain difficult to generalize.

After the departure of the Romans, Christianity likely persisted among the Brythonic enclaves like Strathclyde, even as the pagan Anglo-Saxons advanced into the Lowlands. In the sixth century, Irish missionaries, including St. Ninian, St. Kentigern, and St. Columba, were active on the British mainland. St. Ninian, traditionally seen as a missionary figure, is now considered a construct of the Northumbrian church, with his name likely a corruption of Uinniau or Finnian, a saint of probable British origin. St. Kentigern, who died in 614, likely worked in the Strathclyde region. St. Columba, a disciple of Uinniau, founded the monastery at Iona in 563 and conducted missions among the Scots of Dál Riata and the Picts, who had likely already begun converting to Christianity.