Argyll - The Rough Guide to Scottish Highlands and Islands - page 67

1

half of them over 60. The ferry from Oban lands at Achnacroish , roughly halfway along
the eastern coastline.

Ionad Naomh Moluag
500 metres west of Achnacroish • Daily: mid-April to Sept 11am-4pm; March to mid-April & Oct noon-3pm • £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 St 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; inside you can see a few of the
original seats for the upper clergy, a stone basin in the south wall and several medieval
doorways. 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 boasts 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, Sun 2
daily; 50min), and a shorter passenger- and bicycle-only

crossing from Port Appin to Point, the island's northerly
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.

Tourist information In the absence of a tourist of ce,
W isleoflismore.com has some useful information.

ACCOMMODATION AND EATING
The Old Schoolhouse T 01631 760262. Accommo-
dation on the island is extremely limited, but this budget
B&B, with three rooms, all sharing bathroom facilities, is

perfectly acceptable. They al so s erve evening meals for a
very reasonable £10/person. £60

Taynuilt
Taynuilt , eleven miles east of Oban, at the point where the River Awe flows into the sea
at Loch Etive , is a small but sprawling village, best known for its iron-smelting works,
though it's a great little spot from which to explore the loch itself. From the pier
beyond the iron furnace, boat cruises run by Loch Etive Cruises (Easter to Christmas
daily except Sat at 10am, noon & 2pm; 2-3hr; £10/£15; T 07721 732703) check out
the local seals and explore the otherwise inaccessible reaches of the loch.

Bonawe Iron Furnace
B845, two miles from Taynuilt, just off the A85 • April-Sept daily 9.30am-5.30pm • £4.50; HS • T 01866 822432
he Bonawe Iron Furnace was originally founded by Cumbrian ironworkers in 1753,
employing six hundred people at its height. Its decline and eventual closure, in 1876,
was largely as a result of the introduction of more efficient coke-fired methods of
production. During its heyday, though, the surrounding hills of birch and oak made
for first-class charcoal, which was the principal fuel used to smelt iron in these early
blast furnaces. The site remains hugely evocative, from the cavernous charcoal sheds
with their sunken roofs, to the far smaller iron-ore sheds, one of which now has an