Everything about Islay totally explained
» This article is about the island in Scotland. For the shrub, see Prunus ilicifolia. For the Peruvian province, see Islay Province.
Islay (;,
ee-luh), a
Scottish island, known as "The Queen of the Hebrides" (
Banrìgh nan Eilean), is the southernmost island of the
Inner Hebrides. It lies in
Argyll just to the west of
Jura and around 25 miles north of the
Irish coast, which can be seen on a clear day. A native of Islay is called an
Ìleach, pronounced [ˈiːʎəx], and the plural is
Ìlich:
Scottish Gaelic is still the main language of the west of the island . The island's capital is
Bowmore, famous for its distillery and distinctive round
Kilarrow Parish Church.
Port Ellen is the largest settlement.
Islay is the fifth largest Scottish island Other finds have been dated to 7,000 BC using
radiocarbon dating of shells and debris from
kitchen middens. By the
Neolithic, settlements had become more permanent, allowing for the construction of several communal monuments.
Recorded history begins with a document relating to
St Columba who probably passed through Islay on his way to establish the monastery on
Iona in the
sixth century. At this time, Islay lay within the kingdom of
Dál Riata and was ruled by the
Cenél nÓengusa.
From the
14th to the
16th centuries much of the west coast of Scotland was governed by the
Lordship of the Isles from Finlaggan on Islay. A record of lands granted to an Islay resident, Brian Vicar MacKay, by the
Domhnall of Islay, Lord of the Isles in
1408 known as the
Islay Charter is one of the earliest records of
Gaelic in public use and is a significant historical document. The origins of the Lordship date back to the defeat of the Danes off the coast of Islay in 1156 by
Somerled. The Finlaggan Trust deal with this period in detail and the Island is open to visitors daily. The Finlaggan Trust also has a visitor centre which is open on some days of the week. The British
Channel 4 Time Team television series excavated on Finlaggan on the
24 June–
26 June 1994. The episode was first broadcast on
8 January 1995.
Starting in the 1830s, the population of the island began dropping from its peak of fifteen thousand as a result of the
Highland Clearances. Today's population is about three thousand. Most emigrants from Islay made new homes in
Ontario, Canada,
the Carolinas in the
United States, and
Australia.
During
World War II, the
RAF built an airfield at
Glenegedale which later became the civil
airport for Islay. There was also an RAF Coastal Command
flying boat base at Bowmore from 13/03/41 using
Loch Indaal, flying Short G Boat, Short C Boat (the precursor of the Sunderland) and Catalina I. On 01/09/42 a reformed 246 Squadron with Sunderland Mark III aircraft took over. In May, 1943, RCAF 422 Squadron moved to Lochindall at Bowmore with Sunderland Aircraft. The 1942 film "Coastal Command" was partly filmed in Bowmore.
There was a RAF
Chain Home radar station at
Saligo Bay and RAF
Chain Home Low radar station at
Kilchiaran which became a RAF
ROTOR radar station in the 1950s.
In the early 21st century, a campus of
Sabhal Mòr Ostaig was set up on Islay,
Ionad Chaluim Chille Ìle.
Geography
The island's population is mainly centred around the villages of
Bowmore,
Port Ellen, and
Port Charlotte. Other smaller villages include
Portnahaven,
Bridgend, and
Port Askaig. The rest of the island is sparsely populated and mainly agricultural.
The south-western end of the main body is a largely rocky region called
The Oa. The north western arm of the island is called the
Rhinns of Islay. There are several
lochs on the island including Loch Finlaggan, Loch Gruinart, Loch Gorm,
Loch Indaal, Loch Ballygrant and Loch Allan.
Lochindaal, a sea loch which separates the Rhinns of Islay from the rest of the island, is formed along a branch of the great Glen Fault called the Loch Gruinart Fault, the main line of which passes just to the north of Colonsay. This separates the limestone, igneous inclusions and Bowmore sandstones from the Colonsay group rocks of the Rhinns. The result is occasional, minor earth tremors.
There are no
Munros on Islay or Jura, the highest peak being
Beinn Bheigier a
Marilyn at 491 metres (about 1,610 feet).
Climate
The influence of the
Gulf Stream keeps the climate mild compared to mainland Scotland. Snow is rarely seen and frosts are light and short-lived. One might expect therefore a gardener's paradise and indeed, it isn't unusual to see exotic plants growing in gardens. However, the winter gales which sweep in off the Atlantic can make travelling and living on the island during the winter difficult, while ferry and air links to the mainland are frequently delayed. The weather tends to become more pleasant around Easter and the summer season then extends until well into September.
Transport
Many of the roads on the island are
single-track with passing places. The two main roads are the
A846 from Ardbeg to Port Askaig via Port Ellen and Bowmore, and the
A847 which runs down the east coast of the Rhinns. The island has its own bus service provided by
Ben Mundell trading as
Islay Coaches.
The island has its own airport,
Glenegedale Airport with services to and from
Glasgow.
There are regular ferry services to Port Ellen and Port Askaig from
Kennacraig, taking about two hours. Services to Port Askaig also run on to
Scalasaig on
Colonsay and on to
Oban on Wednesdays during the summer only. These services are run by
Caledonian MacBrayne. There is also a ferry that runs from Port Askaig to
Feolin on
Jura. A new ferry is expected to enter service in 2011.
» See also
Distilleries
Islay malt whisky is produced by eight
distilleries on the island.
The distilleries on the south of the island produce whiskies with a very strong
peaty flavour. From east to west they're
Ardbeg,
Lagavulin, and
Laphroaig. (These three are considered to be among the most intensely flavoured of all whiskies). On the north of the island
Bowmore,
Bruichladdich,
Bunnahabhain, and
Caol Ila are produced. These whiskies are substantially lighter in taste. There were more distilleries in the past:
Port Ellen closed in 1983 while the Lochindaal in
Port Charlotte closed as long ago as
1929. Little blending is done on the island, though since the takeover of Bruichladdich distillery by several private individuals whisky is now blended and bottled there by Master Distiller James McEwan. Bruichladdich is also noteworthy as the only distillery which bottles its malts on Islay.
In 2005, a new
microdistillery opened at Rockside Farm. Named
Kilchoman Distillery, it officially opened in June, and distilled its first spirit in November. The malting floor burned down in February 2006, but there's sufficient stock to continue production pending repairs.
In March
2007 Bruichladdich announced that it would reopen Port Charlotte Distillery, using equipment from the Inverleven distillery. The distillery will use the existing warehouses of the former Lochindaal Distillery while a visitors centre will be built on the current site of Clyne's Garage.
Apart from the whisky there's now an original
real ale from the Isle of Islay. The Islay Ales Brewery opened its doors on
March 22 2004 and brews seven different real ales, some of which are seasonal, or for special occasions such as the yearly Festival of Malt and Music. The brewery is located on Islay House Square just outside Bridgend.
Wave energy
The location of Islay, exposed to the full force of the
North Atlantic, has led to it being the site of a pioneering, and Scotland's first,
wave power station near Portnahaven. In 2000 this station became the world's first commercial wave power station. The
Islay LIMPET (Land Installed Marine Powered Energy Transformer) wave power generator was designed and built by Wavegen and researchers from the
Queen's University of Belfast, and was financially backed by the European Union. Known as Limpet 500, it feeds half a megawatt of electricity into the island's grid.
Fishing
Islay has some of the finest
brown trout fishing in
Europe. The imported
rainbow trout have not been released on the island and the "brownies" still dominate the freshwater ecosystems. In 2003 the European Fishing competition was held on five of the lochs. Most of the estates organise fishing on the rivers and lochs and maintain the banks for fishing. Sea
angling is also popular especially over the many
shipwrecks around the coast.
Media
Islay was featured in some of the scenes of the 1954 film,
The Maggie.
Part of the action in
Julian May's book
Diamond Mask takes place on Islay, where some characters engage in birdwatching.
In the 1990s the
BBC adaptation of
Para Handy was partly filmed in Port Charlotte and featured a race between the
Vital Spark (Para Handy's
puffer) and a rival puffer along the length of Loch Indaal. The local primary school children were released from classes along the length of the loch to watch the race.
Since 1973 the
Ileach
has been delivering news to the people of Islay every two weeks. This twenty-eight-page,
A4-sized publication now has a circulation locally and worldwide of 3,000 copies. The Ileach was named Community Newspaper of the year in 2007. Brian Palmer from the Ileach Community Newspaper was interviewed in November 2007 about the island and its people.
Famous natives of Islay
Islay's most famous son of recent times is
George Robertson, the former secretary-general of
NATO and former
British Defence Secretary. In 1999 he was made Lord Robertson of Port Ellen.
The Islay-born Reverend Donald Caskie (1902–1983) became known as the "Tartan Pimpernel" for his exploits in France during World War II.
Glenn Campbell, Scottish political reporter for the BBC, was brought up on Islay and attended Islay High School where his performance in the annual pantomime is still remembered.
Billy Stewart (born 1935) steered a course from Port Ellen Primary school to being the government’s Chief Scientific advisor in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Sir William Stewart as he's now known, is currently chairman of the Health Protection Agency.
John Crawfurd was born on Islay in 1783 and during a career around the world became governor of Singapore. He also wrote a number of books.
Ben Wilson of Cultoon is currently a rising star in the national shooting scene and recently won a double medal at the Bisley Grand Prix
Isla Fisher, famous actress who starred in Home & Away & comedy classic Wedding Crashers, was named after the island. Her Grandparents used to live near Bowmore.
Churches
The Church of Scotland congregation of Kilarrow Parish Church (aka the Round Church) is currently vacant. The church is round, legend has it, to leave no corner for the devil to hide in.
The Church of Scotland on the Rhinns of Islay is just outside the village of Port Charlotte, known as St Keiran's, it's led by the Rev. Steve Fulcher who is also the minister of the Kilmeny congregation. St John's Church of Scotland, Port Ellen, currently having no minister, and exploring a possible linkage with Kilarrow is currently being served by a locum — Angela Stather who is a Church of Scotland Reader. Each of the vacant Church of Scotland congregations has an Interim Moderator who is responsible for the oversight of the congregation.
In addition there are several other congregations on Islay. The Baptist congregation has recently appointed George Campbell, formerly the minister on Jura, to be their minister. Baptists meet in the mornings in Port Ellen and in the evenings in Bowmore. The Scottish Episcopal Church of St. Columba is located in Bridgend and the priest with charge is the Revd. Ken Skipper. The Islay Catholic congregation also uses St Columba's for its services.
Many old church buildings on Islay are in an unroofed and ruined state; many have considerable historical interest dating from mediæval times. The ruined church of Kildalton has one of the finest carved crosses in the world; dating to the 8th century, it's carved out of the local bluestone. A carved cross of similar age, but much more heavily weathered can be found at Kilnave. Associated with many churches are mysterious cupstones which date to prehistory; these can be seen at Kilchoman church where the carved cross there's erected on one, at Kilchiaran church on the Rhinns and at other sites. Several more recently abandoned churches have been adapted as dwellings.
Celtic traditions
On Islay there was a Stone of Inauguration by Loch Finlaggan. It was seven feet square and had footprints cut into it. When a chief of the Clan Donald was installed as the "King of the Isles" he stood barefoot on the imprints on the stone, and with his father's stone in his hand was anointed King by the Bishop of Argyll and seven priests. During the ceremony an orator recited a list of his ancestors and he was proclaimed "Macdonald, high prince of the seed of Conn". The block was deliberately destroyed in the early seventeenth century (Bord 1976).
Gallery
Image:Sunset4.jpg|Sunset over the Rhinns of Islay from a Bowmore Garden
Image:bridgendwoods.JPG|Bridgend woods in January 2006
Image:Port_Charlotte_-_Loch_Indall.JPG|Loch Indaal from Port Charlotte
Image:Portellen_lighthouse.jpg|The Lighthouse at Carraig Fhada, Port Ellen
Further Information
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