Get to know the Isle of Islay!

The southernmost island in the inner Hebrides islands, in the west coast of Scotland near neighbouring islands Jura and Colonsay, lies Islay, nicknamed "The Queen of the Hebrides". Home to 3,228 (census 2011) a small quarter of it's inhabitance back in 1830 at 15,000 people.

Ileach (n.) - a native of Islay or "the man from Islay"

40km in width, 25km in length and an area of 600km2, with the majority of the island being split up among Dunlossit and Islay estate (the two largest estates) along with Ardtalla, Laggan and Foreland estates in ownership of land.

Most land is low lying and fertile, with high hills and moorlands too (the highest being Beinn Bheigeir at 491m) . There are loads of beaches, a variety of freshwater lochs, rivers and waterfalls dotted around.

Agriculture is the biggest economic activity on the island with many farms, whether that be for grazing sheep and cattle, or cultivating the ground for barley, etc. The whisky industry too with nine distilleries, with locally sourced peat keeping them fuelled. Tourism is another important source of income to the island bringing in tens of thousands annually, whether that be for whisky, to explore history, beach break, to island hop or simply visit for the views. To get here, you can travel by ferry, or by plane, the question is the scenic route of a few hours over the sea or get here in record time of 20 minutes by air. There is deer shooting carried out by the estates, fishing is popular too, tree plantations and two nature reserve areas and the worlds first ever commercial wave-powered electrical generation system was build on Islay, near Portnahaven in 2000, one ofmany interesting possessions on Islay.

The islands villages include, Portnahaven, Bruichladdich, Port Wemyss, Ballygrant all which do not have pimary schools and then Keills, Port Charlotte, Port Ellen and the capital, Bowmore each with one of four primary schools located and Bowmore home to the only high school.

There is a vast history behind Islay, dating back to 8000BC, Islay formed part of the Gaelic kingdom, Dal Riata and the Kildalton cross placed in 800AD still stands to this day. Three hundred years later the Vikings arrived who proceeded to take over and rule the island until warrior Somerled rebelled against these settlers to reclaim Islay. Somerled and his descendants then ruled the island as "the Lord of the Isles" based in Finlaggan. Now ownership of the island is split between estates, as stated above.

- Kildalton Cross - Finlaggan

Islay is fascinating in many ways, with it's unique way of island life adopting old and new traditions to share with locals and visitors. Locals supporting locals and with visitors ranging from leisure to business, everyone is welcomed with open arms to enjoy what the island and it's people have to offer and create memories to last a lifetime.