The name of Ferintosh apparently refers to those who paid dues to the Old Celtic hereditary manager

of the estate, the Toiseach; Fear an Toiseachd – men owing allegiance to the Toiseach (see the

similarity to the Prime, or First, Minister of the Republic of Ireland - the Taoiseach ). The name Resolis

in Gaelic is reckoned to refer to its sunny, cheerful aspect and equates to “the slope of light” in

English.

Both the Ferintosh and Resolis Churches are located on the west side of the Black Isle in the old

County of Ross and Cromarty. Although they both have highly rural situations Ferintosh is closer to

sizeable village communities which it can draw from, such as Culbokie and Conon Bridge, each having

a population of over a thousand. Resolis has no such larger villages to draw from, being mostly

surrounded by a dispersed number of farms.

The current congregations date from the national church Disruption of 1843 when the majority of the

Church of Scotland people in the area, with their ministers, the Rev John MacDonald (Ferintosh ) and

the Rev Donald Sage ( Resolis ) joined the newly formed Free Church of Scotland. Buildings were

erected over the next ten years, with in one case, the Ferintosh Burn valley and amphitheatre

providing a “temporary” worship location. “The Burn” was still used until 1962 primarily as a

Communion Sacrament site since the actual Ferintosh Church would not have been able to hold the

numbers congregating for that purpose. The Burn fell into disuse as Gaelic medium Communion

Services attracted fewer and fewer attenders as the language itself gradually disappeared from the

area but has been resuscitated since 2000 for special annual summer services.

Both Resolis in the late 1990s and Ferintosh in the 2020s have undergone massive internal

reconstruction, and are now attractively laid out with comfortable chairs rather than fixed wooden

pews. They can be readily reconfigured for a variety of different meetings or social occasions.

The two were separate congregations with their own ministers and manses until the induction of the

Rev Donald G MacDonald in 1992 at which time they were linked and are now united with one Kirk

Session and one Deacons’ Court, but still with services in each church on every Sunday.