Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
wonderful gentle walking and cycling opportunities, with unrivalled views - in fine
weather - across to the mountains of Morvern, Lochaber and Mull. Legend has it that
saints Columba and Moluag both fancied the skinny island as a
missionary base
, but as
they raced towards it Moluag cut off his finger and threw it ashore ahead of Columba,
claiming the land for himself. Of Moluag's sixth-century foundation nothing remains,
but from 1236 until 1507 the island served as the seat of the
bishop of Argyll
. Lismore
is one of the most fertile of the Inner Hebrides - its name derives from the Gaelic
lios
mór
, meaning “great garden” - and before the Clearances (see p.589) it supported
nearly 1400 inhabitants; the population today is around 200, many of them over 60.
he ferry from Oban lands at
ACHNACROISH
, roughly halfway along the
eastern coastline.
6
Ionad Naomh Moluag
500m west of Achnacroish • Daily: March to mid-April & Oct noon-3pm; mid-April to Sept 11am-4pm • £3.50 •
T
01631 760030
To get to grips with the history of the island and its Gaelic culture, follow the signs to
the Heritage Centre,
Ionad Naomh Moluag
, a turf-roofed, timber-clad building with a
permanent exhibition on Lismore, a reference library, a gift shop and a café with an
outdoor terrace. Your ticket also covers entry to the nearby restored nineteenth-century
cottar's (landless tenant's) cottage,
Tigh Iseabal Dhaibh
, with its traditionally built stone
walls, birch roof timbers and thatched roof.
Cathedral of Moluag and around
In
CLACHAN
, two and a half miles north of Achnacroish, you'll find the diminutive,
whitewashed fourteenth-century
Cathedral of St Moluag
, whose choir was reduced in
height and converted into the parish church in 1749. Due east of the church - head
north up the road and take the turning signposted on the right - the circular
Tirefour
Broch
, over two thousand years old, occupies a commanding position and has walls
almost 10ft thick in places.
ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE
ISLE OF LISMORE
By ferry
Two ferries serve Lismore: a small CalMac
car
ferry from Oban to Achnacroish (Mon-Sat 4 daily, 2 on
Sun; 50min), and a shorter passenger- and bicycle-only
crossing from Port Appin to Point, the island's north
point (hourly; 5min).
GETTING AROUND AND INFORMATION
Bike rental
Bike rental is available from Lismore Bike Hire
(
T
01631 760213), who will deliver to the ferry upon request.
Website
In the absence of a tourist o
ce, the website,
W
isleoflismore.com, has some useful information.
ACCOMMODATION AND EATING
The Old Schoolhouse
T
01631 760262.
Accommodation
on the island is extremely limited, but this
budget B&B with three rooms, all sharing bathroom
facilities, is perfectly acceptable. They
also
serve evening
meals for a very reasonable £10/person.
£60
Loch Awe
Legend has it that
Loch Awe
, twenty miles east of
Oban,
was created by a witch and
inhabited by a monster even more gruesome than the one at Loch Ness. At more than
25 miles in length, Loch Awe is actually the longest stretch of fresh water in the
country, but most travellers only encounter the loch's north end as they speed along its
shores by car or train on the way to or from Oban.
Kilchurn Castle
Several tiny islands on the loch sport picturesque ruins, including the fifteenth-century
ruins of
Kilchurn Castle
, strategically situated on a rocky spit (once an island) at the
