Holy Island

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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Holy Isle, an island of Kilbride parish, Arran, Buteshire, in the mouth of Lamlash Bay. Measuring 17hr. mile in length and from 3¾ to 5 furlongs in breadth, it rises to a height of 1030 feet. Its surface is picturesquely variegated with heath-clad acclivities, grassy ridges, and columnar masses-.the last consisting of clinkstone on bases of sandstone, and rising tier above tier to the summit. Its height, as seen from the water, looks almost grander than that of Goatfell ; and its summit is more difficult to scale, and commands nearly as brilliant a view. It is said to have got its name from being the retreat of a Culdee anchorite, St Maol Jos, whose hermitage, in the form of a natural cave, is still shown on its western side ; and near this is a spring, a ' holy well,' which for centuries bore a surpassing repute among the superstitious for curing all sorts of diseases.—Ord. Sur., shs. 13, 21, 1870.

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