Kilarrow Church (Scottish Gaelic: Eaglais Cill an Rubha) is a Church of Scotland parish church, overlooking and serving Bowmore on the Isle of Islay.
The "Round Church", as it is often known, was built in 1767. It has a highly unusual circular design, more reminiscent of some churches built in the 1960s. It has been suggested that the circular design was intended to ensure that there were no corners in which the devil could hide. The roof is supported by a single massive central pillar.
The Church also contains some artifacts belonging to the Bowmore-born Rev Donald Caskie (1902-1983), former minister of The Scots Kirk, Paris and notable as the "Tartan Pimpernel" for aiding over 2,000 Allied servicemen in their escape from occupied France.
The linked parishes of Kilarrow and Kilmeny are vacant following a reallocation of Ministers.
Famous quotes containing the words parish and/or church:
“There is not a single crowned head in Europe whose talents or merit would entitle him to be elected a vestryman by the people of any parish in America.”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)
“You know, some of these folks look as queer in church as a mule does in the front parlor.”
—Howard Estabrook (1884–1978)