Editing Islands of the Clyde (section)

== Islands ==

Below is a table listing the nine islands of the Firth of Clyde that have an area greater than 40&nbsp;hectares (approximately 100&nbsp;acres), showing their population and listing the smaller uninhabited islets adjacent to them (including tidal islets separated only when the tide is higher, and [[skerry|skerries]] exposed only when the tide is lower).

As of 2001, six of the islands were inhabited, but that included one with only two residents ([[Davaar Island|Davaar]]), and one with only one resident ([[Sanda Island|Sanda]]).<ref name= GRO>{{GRO10}}.</ref> At the [[United Kingdom Census 2011|2011 census]], there was no one usually resident on either of these islands.<ref name= NRS>{{NRS1C}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Island
! [[Scottish Gaelic|Gaelic Name]]<ref name="MaT" />
! Location
! Area ([[hectare|ha]])<ref>Haswell-Smith (2004) unless otherwise indicated.</ref>
! Population<ref name= NRS/>
! Last inhabited
! Highest point<ref>Haswell-Smith (2004) and Ordnance Survey maps.</ref>
! Height (m){{#tag:ref|Note that the Ordnance Survey maps mark the height above sea level of a high point on most islands, but in a small number of cases, this may not be the highest point.<ref name=OS>Ordnance Survey maps.</ref>|group="Note"}}
! Surrounding islets<ref name=OS/>
|-
| [[Ailsa Craig]]
| ''Creag Ealasaid''
| [[South Ayrshire]]
| 99
| 0
| 1990<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.ayradvertiser.com/news/19150852.ailsa-craig-10-facts-didnt-know-island/#:~:text=Here%20are%2010%20facts%20you%20might%20not%20have%20known%20about%20Ailsa%20Craig.&text=The%20island%20stands%20at%20over,is%20around%20338%20metres%20tall.&text=The%20island%20has%20been%20uninhabited%20since%20automation%20in%201990. | title=10 things you probably didn't know about Ailsa Craig | date=13 March 2021 }}</ref>
| The Cairn
| 338
| None
|-
| [[Isle of Arran|Arran]]
| ''Arainn''
| Arran
| 43201
| 4629
| –
| [[Goat Fell]]
| 874
| Eilean na h-Àirde Bàine, Hamilton Isle, [[Pladda]]
|-
| [[Isle of Bute|Bute]]
| ''Bòid''
| Bute
| 12217
| 6498
| –
| Windy Hill
| 278
| [[Burnt Islands|The Burnt Islands]]: Eilean Mòr, Eilean Fraoich and Eilean Buidhe, [[Eilean Dearg, Loch Riddon|Eilean Dearg]], [[Eilean Dubh, Kyles of Bute|Eilean Dubh]], [[Sgat Mòr and Sgat Beag|Sgat Beag and Sgat Mòr]]
|-
| [[Davaar Island|Davaar]]
| ''Eilean Dà Bhàrr''
| Kintyre
| 52<ref name= GRO/>
| 0
|–
|
| 115
| None
|-
| [[Great Cumbrae]]
| ''Cumaradh Mòr''
| Bute
| 1168
| 1376
| –
| The Glaidstane
| 127
| The Clach, [[The Eileans]], The Leug, The Spoig
|-
| [[Holy Island, Firth of Clyde|Holy Island]]
| ''Eilean Mo Laise''
| Arran
| 253
|31
| –
| Mullach Mòr
| 314
| None
|-
| [[Inchmarnock]]
| ''Innis Mheàrnaig''
| Bute
| 253
| 0
| 1980s<ref>Haswell-Smith (2004) p. 21</ref>
|
| 60
| None
|-
| [[Little Cumbrae]]
| ''Cumaradh Beag''
| Bute
| 313
| 0
| 1990s<ref name="HaswellSmith">Haswell-Smith (2004) p. 18</ref>
| Lighthouse Hill
| 123
| The Broad Islands, [[Castle Island, Scotland|Castle Island]], Trail Isle
|-
| [[Sanda Island|Sanda]]
| ''Àbhainn''
| [[Kintyre]]
| 127
| 0
| –
|
| 123
| [[Glunimore Island]], Henrietta Reef, Scart Rocks, Paterson's Rock, [[Sheep Island, Argyll and Bute|Sheep Island]]
|}

=== Outlying islands ===
[[File:Lady Isle.jpg|thumb|[[Lady Isle]] with [[Ailsa Craig]] beyond]]
[[File:Kildonan 6. With the islands of Pladda and Ailsa Craig. North Ayrshire, Scotland.JPG|thumb|Three islands of the Clyde: The village of [[Kildonan, Arran|Kildonan]] on [[Isle of Arran|Arran]], [[Pladda]] and [[Ailsa Craig]]]]
[[File:Byrondarnton.jpg|thumb|The [[Byron Darnton]] tavern and holiday cottages on [[Sanda Island|Sanda]]. The inn is named after a 1946 shipwreck on the island.<ref>Haswell-Smith (2004) pp. 6–7</ref>]]

The islets that lie remote from the larger islands are described separately below.<ref>All are as identified by Ordnance Survey maps.</ref>

There are two islets in Gare Loch: Green Island and Perch Rock. Gare Loch is small, but it hosts the [[Faslane Naval Base]], where the UK's [[Vanguard-class submarine|Trident nuclear submarines]] are located. At its southern end, the loch opens into the [[Firth of Clyde]] via the [[Rhu]] narrows.<ref>[http://www.scottish-places.info/features/featurefirst4013.html "Gare Loch"]. Gazetteer for Scotland. Retrieved 29 August 2010.</ref>

There are also several islets in the [[Kilbrannan Sound]], which lies between Arran and the [[Kintyre]] peninsula. They are: An Struthlag, Cour Island, Eilean Carrach ([[Carradale]]), Eilean Carrach ([[Skipness]]), Eilean Grianain, Eilean Sunadale, Gull Isle, Island Ross and Thorn Isle.

(The Norse sagas tell a story about the Kintyre peninsula. In the late 11th century, a [[king of Norway]] ([[Magnus III of Norway|Magnus Barefoot]]) devised a plan to increase his territorial possessions. He persuaded a king of Scotland ([[Malcolm III of Scotland|Malcolm III]] or [[Edgar, King of Scotland|Edgar]]) to agree that he could take possession of an area of land on the west coast of Scotland if a ship could sail around it. Magnus then arranged for one of his [[longship]]s to be dragged across the {{convert|1.5|km|mi}}-long isthmus at the northern tip of the Kintyre peninsula, which connects Kintyre to the mainland. (The isthmus lies between [[East Loch Tarbert, Argyll|East Loch Tarbert]] and [[West Loch Tarbert, Argyll|West Loch Tarbert]]). He took command of the ship's tiller himself. Then, declaring that Kintyre had "better land than the best of the [[Hebrides]]", he claimed that dragging his ship across the isthmus had been equivalent to “sailing around” the peninsula, and thus that the peninsula counted as “land around which a ship could sail.” As a result of this maneuver, he was able to claim possession of the peninsula, which remained under Norse rule for more than a dozen years.<ref>[http://www.scottish-places.info/features/featurefirst4041.html "West Loch Tarbert"] Gazetteer for Scotland. Retrieved 13 September 2008.</ref><ref>"Magnus's Saga", chapter 10 in Hollander (1964) pp. 676–677</ref><ref>Murray (1977) p. 100 has the date as 1093</ref><ref>[http://www.tarbert.info/tarberttext/historyt1.htm "Tarbert History"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081220200146/http://www.tarbert.info/tarberttext/historyt1.htm |date=20 December 2008 }} Tarbert.info. Retrieved 13 September 2008.</ref>{{#tag:ref|This tale is related in the Norse sagas, but the context is confused. They assert that the arrangement was made with King Malcolm, but in fact it was [[Edgar, King of Scotland|Edgar]] who was King of Scots at the time.<ref>Woolf, Alex "The Age of the Sea-Kings: 900–1300" in Omand (2006) p. 101</ref>|group="Note"}})

There are also several islets and skerries in Loch Fyne, which extends {{convert|65|km|mi}} inland from the [[Sound of Bute]], and is the longest of Scotland's sea lochs.<ref>[http://www.geo.ed.ac.uk/home/scotland/scotland.html "Gateway to Scotland"] University of Edinburgh. Retrieved 29 August 2010.</ref> They are: Duncuan Island, Eilean Ardgaddan, Eilean a' Bhuic, Eilean Aoghainn, Eilean a' Chomhraig, Eilean an Dúnain, Eilean Buidhe (Ardmarnock), Eilean Buidhe ([[Portavadie]]), Eilean Fraoch, Eilean Math-ghamhna, Eilean Mór, Glas Eilean, Heather Island, Inverneil Island, Kilbride Island, and Liath Eilean.

There are several islets surrounding [[Horse Isle]] in [[North Ayrshire]]: Broad Rock, East Islet, Halftide Rock, High Rock and North Islet.

Lady Isle lies off the South Ayrshire coast near [[Troon]]. At one time it housed "ane old chapell with an excellent spring of water".<ref name="History">[http://www.ladyisle.com/ot%20page%2077.htm "History of Lady Isle"] ladyisle.com. Quoting ''Geographical Collections relating to Scotland''. Vol.1, pages 412/3. Retrieved 14 October 2007.</ref> However, in June 1821, someone set fire to the "turf and pasture". Once the pasture had burned away, gales blew much of the island's soil into the sea. This permanently destroyed the island's ability to support grazing.<ref name="Old Troon">[http://www.ladyisle.com/mt%20page%2084.htm "Memories of Old Troon"]. www.ladyisle.com. Retrieved 29 August 2010.</ref>

There are no islands in Loch Goil or Loch Long, which are [[fjord]]-like arms in the northern part of the firth.<ref name=OS/>

===Non-island areas with “island” in their name===

Here is a list of places along that shores of the Firth of Clyde that are not islands, but have names that misleadingly suggest they are islands (''eilean'' being Gaelic for "island"): Eilean na Beithe, Portavadie; Eilean Beag, [[Cove, Argyll and Bute|Cove]]; Eilean Dubh, Dalchenna, Loch Fyne; Eilean nan Gabhar, Melldalloch, [[Kyles of Bute]]; Barmore Island, just north of [[Tarbert, Kintyre|Tarbert]], Kintyre;<ref>[http://www.scottish-places.info/features/featurefirst6310.html Barmore Island] Gazetteer for Scotland Retrieved 1 December 2007.</ref> Eilean Aoidh, south of Portavadie; Eilean Leathan, Kilbrannan Sound just south of [[Torrisdale Bay, Argyll|Torrisdale Bay]]; Island Muller, Kilbrannan Sound north of [[Campbeltown]].<ref>Ordnance Survey maps unless otherwise stated.</ref>