Magnus in Birsay
The George Mackay Brown Memorial Lecture 2017 was given by Dr Sarah Jane Gibbon in the year of Magnus 900. The lecture described her work to investigate sites associated with the saint and the journey of his remains from Egilsay to their resting place in Birsay – then on some decades later to Kirkwall to await burial in the new cathedral being built there.
In Orkney, three churches are dedicated to the saint: the 12th century St Magnus Kirk in Egilsay, a Norse church built in an eminent position on the island some time after the martyrdom of Magnus there; the 17th century St Magnus Kirk built partly over the remains of what is thought to have been the 12th century Christ Church in Birsay, the ecclesiastical centre of the Orkney Earldom, and the most likely site for the burial of Magnus when he was carried by sea and land from Egilsay. Finally St Magnus Cathedral begun in 1137.
Beyond these highly important buildings, evidence of his veneration in the islands has been scant.
Dr Gibbon described how her research has, however, used new methodologies to collect and broaden the evidence it is possible to consider alongside these material remains in considering the impact of Magnus in the islands.
Her research has informed the creation of the St Magnus Way, a 58 mile walking trail developed in Orkney and opened stage by stage in 2017-18 with a starting point on the island of Egilsay where Magnus was martyred; sections through Mainland from the Broch of Gurness to Kirkwall; and a further stretch to Paplay in Holm.
Sarah Jane Gibbon was born and brought up in Orkney surrounded by a family steeped in stories of Orkney’s folklore, history, archaeology and culture. She completed a joint degree in History and Archaeology at Glasgow University in 1998, and was awarded a PhD in Archaeology by UHI and the Open University in 2006 following research on parish formation in the Orkney Earldom.
She is now a part time lecturer in the Archaeology Institute having taught archaeology in the UHI since 2008. Her current research interests are in Christianity, maritime pilgrimage and community in the North Atlantic region, with particular focus on the maritime landscapes of the Northern Isles and the North of Scotland.
A musician, singer and song writer herself, she has collected songs and written on the history of traditional song with specific reference to the journeys of songs within the Orcadian diaspora.
Gibbon, S. J. & Moore, J. (2019) Storyways: visualising saintly impact in a North Atlantic Maritime Landscape. Open Archaeology 5, 235-262. Doi:10.1515/opar-2019-0016
Gibbon, S. J. (2018) With a good boat under me: St Magnus and the Ladykirk Stone. New Orkney Antiquarian Journal 8, 17-23
Lee, D. H. J. & Gibbon S.J. (2018) Mapping Magnus. Research Training and Community. Orkney Archaeology Review 3, 65-78
Gibbon, S. J. (2012) Voices in Chorus: songs and their stories from The Big Orkney Song Project, Northings Publications, Kirkwall
Gibbon, S.J. (2011) The New Year Song: A biography. New Orkney Antiquarian Journal 5, 33-35
Writing Orkney 