Overview of Great Cumbrae

Located within North Ayrshire, a mile (1.5 km) offshore, immediately to the north of Little Cumbrae Island and east of Bute, Great Cumbrae is an island with an area of 1168 ha (2886 acres). The recent trend has been an increasing population; 1638 (1961), 1296 (1971), 1300 (1981), 1393 (1991) to 1434 in 2001, now the most densely populated island in Scotland.

The highest point of the island is at Barbay Hill, centrally situated and rising to a height of 127m (417 feet). It is claimed that the Viking king, Haakon, used the island and specifically the northern end at Tormont End as a base before the Battle of Largs (1263). The island's principal settlement is Millport located on the southern shore, although early settlement occurred at Kirkton to the west. Once popular as a holiday destination during the heydays of the Clyde, the island still attracts day trippers though in not nearly the same numbers. The island is crossed by a number of geological dykes, one of which forms a prominent feature known as The Lion Rock. A marine laboratory and museum, operated jointly by the University of Glasgow and University College, London, was established in the 1890s and a ferry connects Cumbrae Slip, to the north of Millport, with Largs.

In 1998, the island gave its name to a glacier in Greenland, thanks to a Scottish Mountaineering Club expedition.