Biography

Christopher Dillon was a Gaelic broadcaster, writer, singer and storyteller. Born in 1952 in Irvine, Ayrshire, he was raised in Iochdar, South Uist, and from an early age he much enjoyed visiting people in the village to listen to stories, songs and local lore.

In 1964 Christopher moved to Trossary, South Uist, to attend Daliburgh Junior Secondary School where he began learning Latin, French and German. When he was 14 years old, he moved to Taynuilt and attended school in Oban. After leaving school he studied Celtic Studies and German at the University of Edinburgh and then at the University of Glasgow. In 1976 he began working at the BBC in Inverness, where he stayed for 24 years. He wrote stories, songs, rhymes and funny sayings for children and made many programmes on historical topics. In addition, he taught Gaelic at evening classes. He did a great deal of work with learners in many parts of Scotland, as well as Germany where he taught Gaelic at the University of Bonn.

While working at the BBC, Christopher created a series of programmes with Roderick MacKay to record the history, stories, place names, songs and poetry of the Inverness, Strathspey and Lochaber areas. You can read more about this project on the archived BBC website Cuairtean.

Christopher passed away in Inverness in the year 2000.