Glenshiel is a parish on the south-west border of Ross-shire. It is bounded on the east by the parishes of Kiltarlity, Urquhart, and Kilmonivaig, on the south by Glenelg, on the west by Kyle Rhea, and on the north by Loch Duich, which separates it from Lochalsh and Kintail. (1867: The Imperial Gazetteer of Scotland, by John Marius Wilson).
Ardintoul, Cairngorm, Glenshiel, Invershiel, Letterfearn, Ratagan, Shiel Bridge
PRE-REFORMATION GOVERNANCE:
POST-REFORMATION GOVERNANCE:
The parish of Glenshiel was disjoined from Kintail by the Lords Commissioners of Teinds on 30 December 1826. At Cill Chaonteart in Glenshiel there stood of old a chapel of St Kentigerna. At Cill Irchaird also there was a chapel of St Irchard.
Includes ministers, licentiates, assistants, readers, and clerks.
(1928: Fasti Ecclesiæ Scoticanæ, by Hew Scott, D. D.)
Parish registers turned over to the Registrar-General, as a result of the Registration of Births, Deaths, and Marriages (Scotland) Act of 1854. The letters B. D. and M. indicate Births (or Baptisms), Deaths (or Burials), and Marriages (or Proclamations of Banns) respectively. Numbers indicate separate volumes or books. Note: These records are by no means complete or without damage; consult the Detailed List of the Old Parochial Registers of Scotland (1872) to learn more about the condition of the records.
| OPR and RD Numbers | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date Range | Name | Number | Type |
| 1785-1854 | Glenshiel | 67 | OPR |
| 1855-1967 | Glenshiel | 67 | RD |
| 2009 | Highland, Glenshiel | 208 | RD |
| 2026 | Highland Council; Loch Duich Community Council | ||
(2009: Parishes and Registration Districts of Scotland - Old and New, National Records of Scotland)
Local community councils (2026) are provided as a potential source of additional information for settlements within the original boundaries of the parish. (Source)
Statistics from informal and official censuses
Chisholm, Fraser, Grant, MacAulay, MacDonald, Mackenzie, MacLennan, MacLeod, MacRae, Paterson
Note: Names appearing in research materials, other than censuses. Simple names (First name, surname only) have been omitted unless they appear associated with large properties. All women's names, and men's names with occupations, military ranks, or peerage titles are included.
By the Reverend Mr John Macrae.
"The inhabitants of this and of the neighbouring parish of Kintail consist principally of two tribes or subordinate clans, the Macraes (or Mackraws) and Maclennans, of which the Macraes are by far the most numerous. These, except the name only, are united by every tie of connection; yet it is not unusual to see them under the influence of those passions which mutual jealousy and clannish animosity inspire. It is seldom, however, they fail to unite against any third party, whom they believe or imagine to have a design of invading the rights of either. The inhabitants of this parish are a frugal people, plain, open, and sincere; and, if surpassed in the virtue of industry by their southern neighbours, the difference is not owing to any natural incapacity in them, but because the objects which excite to industry have not been yet introduced among them; and, in point of skill in the management of black cattle, their neighbours allow them to have the pre-eminence. For 40 years past, no person of this parish has been banished, or suffered capital punishment."
(This section contains excerpts, at times restructured or paraphrased, from an article appearing in Statistical Account of Scotland, Sir John Sinclair, 1791-1799)
Primary Sources:
Statistical Account of Scotland (1791-1799), Volume 7, p. 124
New Statistical Account of Scotland (1834-1845), Volume 14, Section II, p. 181
See Parish Page Sources for all source information and links.
