Inchcailloch


(Inch Cailleach, The Nun's Isle)

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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Inchcailloch (Gael. innis-eailleach, ' island of the nun '), a hilly, wooded island of Buchanan parish, Stirlingshire, in Loch Lomond, between Torrinch and Balmaha, 7 furlongs NW of the mouth of the river Endrick. With an utmost length and breadth of 6½ by 3 furlongs, it belongs to the Duke of Montrose, and till 1621 was the seat of Inchcailloch parish church, dedicated to St Kentigerna, a holy woman who had dwelt here as an anchorite. The foundations of this church (57 x 24 feet) may still be traced; whilst its ancient graveyard is still in use, and contains some curious 17th century tombstones-Ord. Sur., sh. 38, 1871. See Dr William Fraser's The Lennox (1874).

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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