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St Blane's Monastery was built at an unknown date prior to 574 with evidence of Christian burial there in the C6th and 7th.
The monastery became a cultural centre on the island and increased in importance with Bute's only parish (at that time) being centred on the church here.
Although named for St Blane, it was probably his uncle, St Catan who founded the monastery. The story goes that Catan's sister Ertha fell pregnant by an unknown man and the enraged Catan set her and her new-born child (Blane) adrift in an oarless boat (not a terribly Christian thing to do I would venture). The boat washed ashore in Ulster and both mother and child survived. After some years the young Blane returned to Bute and was reunited and reconciled with his uncle. He succeeded him as abbot of the monastery and was bishop of the surrounding area. Blane eventually moved eastwards into mainland Scotland where he founded a monastery by the Allan Water - now the site of Dunblane Cathedral.
The monastery continued to thrive after Blane's departure with bishops Daniel and Iolan in the C7th and Abbot Ronan around 737. However pagan Viking raids in the later C8th were causing havoc and the violent deaths of two of the abbots, Maelmanach in 776 and Noah in 790 were probably as a result of this, and it seems likely that the monastery was abandoned by the early C9th.
The church at the centre of the site dates from a couple of hundred years later, by which time the Norse settlers had themselves become Christians. In 1204 Alan Fitz-Walter, High Steward of Scotland issued a charter granting the church at Kingarth and all associated lands to the monks of Paisley Abbey along with "all the chapels and the whole parish of the island [of Bute]"
At this time the parish of Kingarth encompassed the whole of the island, but by the later C13th Rothesay had grown in importance and a new church and parish was created there at St Mary's (see Link )
It is thought that Kingarth gradually diminished in importance as Rothesay-St Mary increased and the church here had probably largely fallen out of use by the late C16th, though it remained the parish church of Kingarth until the early C18th.
The remnants of the church are described by HES as "a fine 12th century Romanesque building consisting of a nave and chancel"
The graveyard contains many interesting features including remnants of the former monastery, associated chapels and numerous gravestones, some dating back to the earliest years of the site.

For details of the architecture and more information visit the sites below:
HES (Designated Scheduled Monument): Link
Canmore: Link
The Canmore website also contains dozens of detailed entries of associated buildings, monuments and gravestones etc. best found by using the 'Map Search' for the area.

The Isle of Bute (or just 'Bute') is a substantial island situated in the Firth of Clyde, it is the 13th largest of the Scottish islands but ranks 5th for population making it comparatively densely populated.
Being close to and easily accessible from the Scottish mainland it has for many years been a popular tourist destination particularly for nearby Glaswegians. Its heyday was around the turn of the C20th when Rothesay harbour was clogged by a succession of visiting paddle steamers. The isle's 'capital', Rothesay, by far the largest settlement on the island with a population of over 4000, is now looking a little tired and could do with some rejuvenation, but is still an interesting place to visit.
There are numerous other settlements around the island, notably Port Bannatyne (popn.c.1090) just to the north of the 'capital'.
The centre of the island contains most of the cultivated land and the amazing mansion of Mount Stuart whereas both the south and north of the island are more rugged and hilly.
St Blane's (ruined) monastery towards the south of the island was founded as long ago as 500AD and is an atmospheric place to visit.
There are two vehicle ferries both run by CalMac which service the island. The main crossing is between Wemyss Bay on the mainland (c.7 miles north of Largs) and Rothesay Harbour. This crossing is shared by the CalMac ferries Bute and Argyle (as of 2022) the crossing takes about 35 minutes and runs approximately every hour (not at night).
The other crossing is far shorter, taking just 5 minutes, and crosses between Rhubodach on Bute and Colintraive on the Cowal peninsula of mainland Scotland - this little ferry runs every half hour from early morning to about 9.00pm
(Note: These are for the Summer timetable, the winter will be different).

Statistics for Bute
Area: 12,217ha (47.17 miles²)
Population: 6,498 [2011 census]
Density: 53.19/km² (137.8/mile²)
Highest Point: Windy Hill, 278m (912') in the northern part of the island.
Chief Settlement: Rothesay (popn.c.4,310 [2020 est])