St Manire

The last of the early apostles to bring the Gospel to Deeside were St Devenick and St Manire. Both were active in the valley during the 9th century but their establishments were widely separated.

St Manire (sometimes spelled Monire, Miniar or Niniar) is said to have been one of Drostan's successors as ab at Deer, and to have had a foundation in that district near Aberdour. But St Manire's main sphere of activity was on upper Deeside, in the district of Crathie, near where he established his muinntir.

The actual site of Manire's early community is at Rinabaich, a knoll to the north of the present North Deeside Road. This is one of the most ancient Christian sites on Deeside. All that remains, as is shown in the photograph on the right, is a slightly flattened area just to the north of the main Aberdeen-Braemar road {NGR NO 301962}. A solitary standing-stone, thought by some to be part of the original doorway, is all that now remains of Manire's establishment, but local place-names such as allt eaglais, "the burn of the church"; creag eaglais, "the hill of the church"; pollmanire, "the pool of Manire" - a deep salmon pool on the river Dee almost opposite Balmoral Castle - recall the activities of this almost forgotten saint. The pool, which is part of the fishings of Balmoral Castle, is today called Polmonier.

The site of St Manire's muinntir at Rinabaich.

Above: The very ancient site of St Manire's muinntir at Rinabaich.

There was a considerable township at Rinabaich {NGR: NO 301962} in years gone by as is shown on the earliest Ordnance Survey maps - it was sometimes known as Rhynabaich. There is, still, an old burial-ground here just before you get to the stream (Easter Micras Burn). Tradition says that the burial ground was used by the inhabitants of the valley for unbaptized children, some travelling some distance to the site for the purpose. Some suggest that there was also a chapel here which may have been known as the Chapel of the Hermites at Miacras (sic). However, this chapel could have been situated a little further upstream at Wester Micras.

A tantalising discovery was made near the chapel/burial ground site - what is known as the "Micras Brooch". It has been described as a "silver brooch, 25mm. in diameter, dating from the 13-14th century. It is a talismanic flat-ring brooch inscribed +IHESVS NAZA." A local minister, Rev. J. Stirton, donated it to the National Museum of Scotland in 1935 and I have confirmed with the museum that it is still in their collections.¹

The medieval church site at Creythin, or Crathie {NGR NO 264947}, south of the present Crathie-Kirk, is under Manire's invocation and traditional history says that the saint was buried here, but this is difficult to reconcile since no remains of an older church seem to have been found amongst the medieval ruins. Manire is said to have suffered considerable persecution, but he did not receive the crown of martyrdom. Hence he appears in the Calendars of the Church as a confessor, not a martyr - his festival is usually commemorated on 19th December.

The Standing Stone at Rinabaich.

Above: The standing stone at Rinabaich.

Ruins of St Manire's church at Crathie.

Above: The remains of the medieval church of St Manire at Crathie
with the 'new' parish church framed in the background.

References:

^1. Personal communication from Dr Adrian Maldonado, Glenmorangie Research Fellow at the NMS (Edinburgh), 24 May 2019. https://www.nms.ac.uk/explore-our-collections/collection-search-results/?item_id=20327

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