Inishail


(Innishail)

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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Inishail, a heathy islet and an ancient parish in Lorn district, Argyllshire. The island, with an utmost length and breadth of 3 and 1 ¾ furlongs, lies in the lower part of Loch Awe, 2 ¼ miles SSW of Loch Awe station and pier and 4 ½ furlongs WNW of Cladich pier. In 1857 the celebrated etcher, Mr Philip Gilbert Hamerton, encamped upon Inishail; and five years later he published two volumes entitled A Painter's Camp in the Highlands, and Thoughts about Art. Inishail had much celebrity in the Middle Ages as the site of a small Cistercian nunnery, which is said to have been distinguished by freedom from the evils that characterised many of the institutions of its class, and whose property was conveyed, at the Reformation, to Hay, the Protestant ex-abbot of Inchaffray. It is still represented by some remains of its chapel. The parish church was in use from the Reformation till it was superseded by a new church (1773; 250 sittings) on the shore, 5 miles SW of Dalmally. Its burying-ground was specially used by the clan Macarthur, who formerly inhabited the shores of the lower part of Loch Awe, and contains numerous ancient carved tombstones, with insignia and devices of Crusaders, knights, warriors, ecclesiastics, and a peer. The parish, united to Glenorchy in 1618, occasions the present parish of Glenorchy to be formally designated Glenorchy and Inishail; embraces the islands, waters, and flanks of much of the lower part of Loch Awe; contains the mansions of Ardvrecknish, New Inverawe, and Inchdrynich; and shares with Glenorchy proper the alternate Sabbath services of the parish minister.—Ord. Sur., sh. 45, 1876.

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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