Isle of Arran
Categories: Islands of the Clyde
The Isle of Arran (Scots Gaelic: Eilean Arainn) is the largest island in the Firth of Clyde (430 km2). It is in the region of North Ayrshire. In the 2001 census it had a usually resident population of 5,058.
Contents |
Geography
The island lies in the Firth of Clyde at grid reference NR950359. The main village on the island is Brodick (an Old Norse name meaning "broad bay") to which the main ferry to the mainland connects. Brodick Castle is the seat of the Dukes of Hamilton.
Arran has many mountains in the north. The highest of these is Goat Fell at 874 metres. The south of the island has many raised beaches and tall sea cliffs.
There are three main roads on the island, the coast road circumnavigates the island while the String and the Ross both cut across the hilly interior at different points.
The island is sometimes referred to as "Scotland in miniature" - as it can be seen as a mixture of the Highlands and Lowlands.
Villages on Arran
- Blackwaterfoot
- Brodick
- Catacol ("gully of the cat")
- Corrie
- Lamlash
- Lochranza ("loch of the rowan trees")
- Machrie
- Pirnmill
- Sannox ("the sandy one")
- Whiting Bay
Islands surrounding Arran
Arran has three smaller satellite islands;
- Holy Isle lies to the east opposite Lamlash
- Pladda lies off Arran's south coast
- Tiny Hamilton Isle lies just off the Arran shore around 1.2 kilometres north of Holy Isle.
Eilean na h-Airde Baine off the south west of Arran at Corriecravie is actually more of a skerry than an island and, in any case, is connected to Arran at low tide.
History
It is likely that along with Bute, Arran was once the home of a P-Celtic or Brythonic speaking people. However, the Gaels spread to the island from their adjacent kingdom of Dalriada and replaced the older language with their Q-Celtic tongue. Later the island, along with the vast majority of Scottish islands, became the property of the Norwegian crown. Haakon IV of Norway visited the island in 1263 en route to the Battle of Largs. After the battle the island was granted to the Lord of the Isles.
St. Columba and St. Ninian are said to have stayed on Arran, and there are other Irish connections, e.g. a stone circle named Fingal's Cauldron. Nearby is the 34 metres deep King's Cave where Robert the Bruce took shelter. There are standing stones on Machrie Moor and the Giant's Graves above Whiting Bay. St. Molio's Cave has wall carvings which are evidence of a rare Pictish script.
Transport
Arran is connected with the Scottish mainland by two Caledonian MacBrayne ferries:
A third ferry route connects Lamlash to neighbouring Holy Isle during summertime.
In summer the paddle steamer PS Waverley calls in at Brodick on regular cruises.
Economy
The main industry for the island is tourism, but farming and forestry are other important industries.
- Arran Distillery, built in 1995, is the newest whisky distillery in Scotland.
- Arran Brewery, owned by Greene King, produces Arran Blonde beer which is sold throughout the UK
The main tourist spot on the island is the imposing Brodick Castle, owned by the National Trust for Scotland. Another interesting site is the twelve apostles of Catacol. This is a row of 12 small whitwashed cottages along the shoreline. The upper window facing the sea is different in each one. The theory behind this system was that the wife at home would be able to signal to her husband out fishing in the bay with a candle at the window. The husband would be able to identify who was being signalled by the shape of the window.
Trivia
- The Scottish First Minister, Jack McConnell, is from Arran.
- Lochranza Castle was used as the model for the castle in the Tintin adventure The Black Island.