Talarican

Holy Hierarch Talarican was a bishop in Scotland, probably of Pictish origin, in the 8th century, by some accounts around 750. He is regarded as bishop of Sodor, a diocese covering the western isles of Scotland, though the Aberdeen Breviary (1509) says he was born in Ireland. He is a saint of the undivided Church.

The legend in the Breviary says he was consecrated bishop by a Pope Gregory. The Bollandists, following the chronology of the Dalriadic kings, conclude that he became bishop about 720, a few years after the Columban monks of Iona had been brought by Saint Egbert to conform to the Roman rite. He is said to have offered Mass every day, to have been noted for zeal and a mortified life, and to have converted many pagans on the northern coasts of Scotland; according to Dempster he died on the island of Lismore. Many churches in the dioceses of Moray, Ross and Aberdeen are dedicated to him, and his name survives in the district of Kiltarlity, at Ceilltarraglan on Skye, and in wells called Saint Tarkin's.

He is commemorated on 30 October, the liturgical date in the Orthodox calendar (the same day number on the old and new calendars).