Loch Gruinart

A historical perspective, drawn from the Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland: A Survey of Scottish Topography, Statistical, Biographical and Historical, edited by Francis H. Groome and originally published in parts by Thomas C. Jack, Grange Publishing Works, Edinburgh between 1882 and 1885.

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Gruinnard or Gruinart, a hamlet and a sea-loch on the NW side of Islay island, Argyllshire. The hamlet lies towards the head of the loch, 7 miles NW of Bridgend, and has a post office under Greenock. The loch, entering 8 miles SW of Rudha Mhail Point, penetrates 4¼ miles southward to within 3 miles of the upper part of Loch Indal, and is dry over great part of its area at low water. It receives at its head the Anaharty, winding 7½ miles south-westward and north-by-westward, and depositing as much silt as to maintain a bar across the loch's mouth; and it has, even at high water, an intricate channel, yet serves as a safe haven for small vessels. A strong party of the Macleans of Mull, landing here in 1588, fought a sanguinary skirmish with the Macdonalds of Islay.

An accompanying 19th C. Ordnance Survey map is available, or use the map tab to the right of this page.

Note: This text has been made available using a process of scanning and optical character recognition. Despite manual checking, some typographical errors may remain. Please remember this description dates from the 1880s; names may have changed, administrative divisions will certainly be different and there are known to be occasional errors of fact in the original text, which we have not corrected because we wish to maintain its integrity. This information is provided subject to our standard disclaimer

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