Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/MacEachen, Evan
MACEACHEN, EVAN (1769–1849), Gaelic scholar, born at Arisaig, Invernessshire, in 1769, was educated in a school at Ruthven, near Keith. He was sent in 1788 to the Scots College at Valladolid, where he was ordained priest in 1798. On his return to the mission he was stationed at Arisaig. In 1801 he was removed to Badenoch, and thence was sent, about 1806, in the capacity of professor, to the seminary of Lismore. In 1814 he was appointed to the mission of Aigas in Strathglass, from which he was transferred in 1818 to Braemar. In consequence of failing health he retired in 1888 to Ballogie, and in 1847 he removed to Tombae, Banffshire, where he died 9 Sept. 1849.
He translated into Gaelic: 1. 'The Abridgment of Christian Doctrine,' printed while he was at Aigas. 2. 'The Spiritual Combat,' 1835. 3. 'The Following of Christ,' 1836. 4. 'The Declaration of the British Catholic Bishops,' published by the Catholic Institute. His more important Gaelic translations, still in manuscript, are: (5) the 'New Testament,' and (6) Bishop Challoner's 'Meditations.' He also published (7) a work on arithmetic, in English, and (8) a Gaelic dictionary, 1842.
[Stothert's Catholic Mission in Scotland p. 691 ; Catholic Directory for Scotland, 1850.]