Parish of Killarow and Kilmeny

(Kilarrow and Kilmeny)

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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1791-99: Killarow and Kilmeny
1834-45: Killarow and Kilmeny

Killarrow, a parish in Islay district, Argyllshire, comprising the central and northern parts of Islay island, and comprehending the ancient parishes of Killarrow and Kilmeny. Often called Bowmore, it contains the town of Bowmore and the villages of Bridgend and Port Askaig, all three with a post office under Greenock. It is bounded N by the Atlantic Ocean, E by the Sound of Islay, S by Kildalton, and W by Loch Indal and Kilchoman. Its utmost length, from N to S, is 13 miles; its utmost breadth is 8¼ miles; and its area is 65, 929 acres. The coasts, the interior, and the prominent features of the parish have all been noticed in our article on Islay. About three-sevenths of the entire area are regularly or occasionally in tillage; between 1000 and 2000 acres are under wood; and the rest is pastoral or waste. The chief antiquities are ruins of Finlagan Castle, Loch Guirm Castle, Claig Castle, and several Scandinavian strongholds. Islay House, near Bridgend, is now the property of Charles Morrison, Esq. (b. 1817), who holds 67, 000 acres in the shire, valued at £16, 440 per annum. Two other proprietors hold each an annual value of £500 and upwards, 3 of between £100 and £500, and 6 of from £20 to £50. In the presbytery of Islay and Jura and synod of Argyll, this parish is ecclesiastically divided into Killarrow and Kilmeny, the former a living worth £181. The ancient parish church stood in the SW corner, a little S of Bowmore; the present one, in Bowmore, was built in 1767, and, as enlarged in 1828, contains 831 sittings. There are also Free churches of Bowmore, Killarrow, and Kilmeny; and Kiels heritors' school and the public schools of Bowmore, Kilmeny, Mulindry, and Newton of Kilmeny, with respective accommodation for 66, 210, 107, 61, and 160 children, had (1881) an average attendance of 46, 132, 69, 19, and 103, and grants of £41, £89, 0s. 8d., £59, 5s., £30, 2s., and £108, 12s. Valuation (1860) £6609, 8s. 8d., (1883) £16, 343, 4s. Pop. (1801) 2781, (1821) 5778, (1841) 7341, (1861) 3969, (1871) 3012, (1881) 2756, of whom 2181 were Gaelic-speaking, and 1875 were in Killarrow, 881 in Kilmeny.

Kilmeny, a ancient parish in Islay island, Argyll shire, whose church stands 4 miles SS of Port Askaig. It is now incorporated quoad civilia with Killarrow parish, but was constituted quoad sacra separate parish, first by ecclesiastical authority in 1826, next by civil authority in 1849. It is in the presbyter of slay and Jura and synod of Argyll; the stipend is £171. Pop. (1871 924, (1881) 881.

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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