In 1623, however, the Irish Roman Catholic church sent Cornelius Ward, a Franciscan friar, to North Western Scotland, in order to proselytise the population. On arriving at Castle Tioram, the seat of Clan Ranald leadership, the leader, John MacDonald, granted him protection throughout Clan Ranald lands. In 1625, Cornelius arrived on Eigg, and reported that Kildonnan Chapel was a roofless ruin; he makes no reference to events of "massacre cave", and reports the island as having 200 inhabitants, all of whom he claims to have converted to Roman Catholicism. Apparently there had been a Protestant minister on the island, but John MacDonald persuaded him to turn a blind eye, by offering him the island's tithes.