The Nunnery with a Three-Headed Giant

Teampull na Trionaid is a ruined 13th-century Augustinian nunnery at Carinish on North Uist in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. It is believed to have been a daughter foundation of Iona Nunnery. Some accounts suggest that in its early days, the site may have served as a college of learning.

Beathag, a daughter of Somerled and prioress of Iona, is said to have erected the church in the early 1200s. In the 14th century, Amie mac Ruari rebuilt the church after her divorce from John of Islay, Lord of the Isles. The site remained active until the Scottish Reformation, when the families of Roman Catholic priests and local tacksmen attempted to claim the church lands.

The architecture of the nunnery was once notable, featuring a pinnacle on the east gable with a figure of a three-headed giant representing the Trinity. While most of the freestone carvings have long since disappeared, Alexander Carmichael surmises they may have been carried away to be used as sharpening stones. One stone, carved in the shape of a human head, has been preserved and is now kept in the museum of Taigh Chearsabhagh in Loch nam Madadh.

The ruins retained a sense of mystery into the nineteenth century. Local lore recounts a story from the early 1800s when a mysterious-looking barge arrived at twilight to deposit an unknown body in a newly-made grave at the temple. The crew marched off silently and disappeared into the sea. Today, the ruins are protected as a scheduled monument.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons