Irish settlement.

The earliest emigrants to Argyle were Pagans, while the
latter were Christians, and were accompanied by priests,
and a bishop, Kieran, the son of the carpenter, whom,
from his youthful piety and holy life, as well as from
the occupation followed by his father, is sometimes
fancifully compared to our Lord and Saviour himself.
Parishes in Cantyre, in Islay, and in Carrick, still bear
the name of St. Kieran as patron. But no systematic
attempt--none at least of historic memory--was made to
convert the remoter Gael and the other races then inhabiting
Alba--the Picts, Britons, and Scandinavians, until the
year of our era, 565, Columba or COLUMBKILL, a Bishop of
the royal race of Nial, undertook that task, on a scale
commensurate with its magnitude. This celebrated man has
always ranked with Saint Patrick and Saint Bridget as
the most glorious triad of the Irish Calendar. He was,
at the time he left Ireland, in the prime of life--his
44th year. Twelve companions, the apostolic number,
accompanied him on his voyage. For thirty-four years he
was the legislator and captain of Christianity in those
northern regions. The King of the Picts received baptism
at his hands; the Kings of the Scottish colony, his
kinsmen, received the crown from him on their accession.
The islet of I., or Iona, as presented to him by one of
these princes. Here he and his companions built with
their own hands their parent-house, and from this Hebridean
rock in after times was shaped the destinies, spiritual
and temporal, of many tribes and kingdoms.