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Garvellachs

Coordinates: 56°14′N 5°47′W / 56.233°N 5.783°W / 56.233; -5.783
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The Garvellachs
Na Garbh Eileacha
Isles of the Sea
Archipelago
A rocky island with a small circular structure on it. In the middle distance there lies a yacht in blue water with another rocky isle beyond and a high shoreline in the distance.
A beehive hut on Eileach an Naoimh with Scarba in the distance
The Garvellachs in relation to mainland Argyll, Scotland
The Garvellachs in relation to mainland Argyll, Scotland
Coordinates: 56°14′N 5°47′W / 56.233°N 5.783°W / 56.233; -5.783
CountryScotland
Area
 • Total230 ha (570 acres)
Time zoneGMT

The Garvellachs (Scottish Gaelic: Na Garbh Eileacha) or Isles of the Sea form a small archipelago in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The islands include Garbh Eileach, Dùn Chonnuill and Eileach an Naoimh.[1] Part of the Argyll and Bute council area, they lie in Firth of Lorne west of Lunga and northwest of Scarba and have been uninhabited since the 19th century.[2][a]

The islands are known for their early Christian connections to Brendan the Navigator and Columba and for their bedrock containing rare formations in relation to the global Sturtian glaciation.

Overview

Scarba, Lunga and the Garvellachs National Scenic Area

The waters surrounding the islands are extensively used for leisure sailing. Due to the array of separate tidal races produced by the underwater topography there are some treacherous stretches of water. These include the Grey Dog between Scarba and Lunga and the Gulf of Corryvreckan, between Scarba and Jura,[5] in which is located the infamous Corryvreckan whirlpool, which is the third-largest whirlpool in the world.[6]

The area is part of the Scarba, Lunga and the Garvellachs National Scenic Area, one of 40 such areas in Scotland, which are defined so as to identify areas of exceptional scenery and to ensure its protection by restricting certain forms of development.[7] The Scottish plant collector, Clara Winsome Muirhead surveyed the plant life of the islands and published The Flora of Easdale and the Garvellachs in 1962.

Garbh Eileach is the largest island in the group and extends to 142 ha (351 acres) and reaches a maximum elevation of 110 m (361 ft) above sea level.[8] The area of Eileach an Naoimh is 56 ha (138 acres) and the maximum height 80 m (262 ft).[9] A' Chùli lies between the two and is 20 ha (49 acres) in extent[10] with Dùn Chonnuill, the northernmost isle, being roughly half this size.[11]

Etymology

Na Garbh Eileacha is Gaelic for "the rough rocks"[12] with the Anglicised version of the name giving rise to the archipelago's name of the Garvellachs. Garbh Eileach itself then means the "rough rock" or "rough rocky mound".[8] Eileach an Naoimh is from na h-Eileacha Naomha and means either "the rocky place of the saint"[9] or "the holy rocks".[13] A’ Chùli is from Cùil Bhrianainn meaning "Brendan's retreat"[14] and Dùn Chonnuill means "Conal's castle" and may be named after an Ulster chieftain of the first century CE.[8]

Geology

Eileach an Naoimh

The Garvellachs are one of two main areas where the Late Precambrian Port Askaig Tillite formation is clearly exposed.[15] This rock sequence, around 700 million years old, is thought to have been formed during a period of extensive glaciation known as Snowball Earth. The Port Askaig tillite shows interbedded cycles of glacial and shallow marine sediments.[16] The significance of these deposits depends greatly upon their dating, which is difficult with glacial sediments. Until recently, the tillite could only be dated in reference to a bed 8 km stratigraphically higher that was placed at 600 Ma.[16] This allowed the Port Askaig formation to be tentatively correlated to the Sturtian glaciation, but it was still unknown whether it represented the advance or retreat of a Snowball Earth.[16]

Because there were few direct age constraints, the Port Askaig Formation had also been correlated with the younger Marinoan glaciation of approximately 645–635 Ma based largely on rhenium–osmium dating.[17]

In 2024, researchers published evidence from uranium–lead dating of zircons showing that the Port Askaig Formation could provide "eight new maximum depositional age constraints, including a key constraint on deglaciation (<662.7 ± 7.8 Ma)". They write that "this lithostratigraphic and stable isotope evidence ... suggests the Port Askaig Formation preserves a relatively complete record of the global Sturtian glaciation."[17] The study by researchers at University College London suggest the archipelago "may be the only place on Earth to have a detailed record of how the Earth entered one of the most catastrophic periods in its history."[18]

The research found that the sandstone of the Port Askaig Tillite was formed from Laurentian source rocks with ages ranging from c. 3700 to 660 Ma.[17]

History

Ruins of late 18th or 19th century house on Garbh Eileach[4]

At least three of the four main islands of the Garvellachs were inhabited in the distant past. There is a ruined castle on the top of Dùn Chonnuill that may have been built by the Macleans of Duart in the early fifteenth century after the island was received by them as a gift from King Robert III. The fort consists of walling up to 2.0m high and generally of a similar width. The remains of ten buildings have been identified.[3][19] Brendan is said to have been buried on A’ Chùli[9] although no trace of his chapel there remains[20] and a similar fate appears to have befallen two unroofed buildings, thought to be shielings, recorded in 1881 by the Ordnance Survey.[21]

There is a small anchorage and landing place on Garbh Eileach where there are the remains of a burial ground and of a fort that measures about 14m by 11m.[3][22] About 650 m (2,130 ft) northeast of this dun there are the ruins of a house and byre with a corn-drying kiln a short distance away, probably erected in the late 18th or 19th century. The island had a population of thirty-two adults in the late 17th century but only four houses were occupied by 1861, and from then on it is likely that only the shepherd's cottage near the landing-place remained in use.[4]

However, the most significant evidence of previous occupation is found on Eileach an Naoimh. About 542, Brendan the Navigator founded a monastery on Ailach, some years before Columba came to Iona.[13][9] The ruins of the monastic buildings include two chapels, beehive huts, and a graveyard with three crosses and another circular grave. These ruins are amongst the best-preserved early Christian monasteries in Scotland and the site is in the care of Historic Environment Scotland.[23]

Columba is also believed to have visited the island and it is one of the proposed locations of the Columban retreat isle of Hinba. Eileach an Naoimh may be the burial site of Columba's mother Eithne.[24][25][26] The monastery was destroyed by Viking raiders who were present in the area from about 800.[9] Although there was a small permanent population in the 1700s the island's intermittent occupation since the Norse settlement of Scotland has likely contributed to the survival of the structures.[27][28]

A lease dated 1817 granted grazing for 60 cattle and 240 sheep on the archipelago as a whole.[4]

Natural history

The outcrops of limestone on Eileach an Naoimh give rise to fertile soils and the slope of the land makes for "verdant" south-facing hillsides. A wide variety of flowering plants are found there including primrose, yellow flag, meadowsweet and honeysuckle.[9] There are scattered birchwoods and a small herd of red deer on Garbh Eileach.[8]

  • The monastery chapel, Eilach an Naoimh
    The monastery chapel, Eilach an Naoimh
  • Dùn Chonnuill from Garbh Eileach
    Dùn Chonnuill from Garbh Eileach
  • 1925 Ordnance Survey map with The Garvellachs at centre
    1925 Ordnance Survey map with The Garvellachs at centre
  • Bothy on Garbh Eileach
    Bothy on Garbh Eileach
  • A' Chùli from Garbh Eileach
    A' Chùli from Garbh Eileach

See also

References

Notes
  1. ^ There is a stone bothy on Garbh Eileach for "occasional use" but not permanent inhabitation.[3] The island was populated in the late 17th century but was likely abandoned in the late 19th.[4]
Citations
  1. ^ "Garvellachs (Isles of the Sea)". Gazetteer for Scotland. Retrieved 17 August 2024.
  2. ^ Haswell-Smith 2004, pp. 67, 75.
  3. ^ a b c Haswell-Smith 2004, pp. 75–76.
  4. ^ a b c d Historic Environment Scotland. "Garvellachs, Garbh Eileach (22376)". Canmore. Retrieved 17 August 2024.
  5. ^ Haswell-Smith 2004, pp. 61–62.
  6. ^ "Corryvreckan Whirlpool". Gazetteer for Scotland. Retrieved 17 August 2024.
  7. ^ "National Scenic Areas". Scottish Natural Heritage. Retrieved 24 May 2018.
  8. ^ a b c d Haswell-Smith 2004, p. 75.
  9. ^ a b c d e f Haswell-Smith 2004, p. 67.
  10. ^ Rick Livingstone’s Tables of the Islands of Scotland (pdf) Argyll Yacht Charters. Retrieved 12 Dec 2011.
  11. ^ Ordnance Survey.
  12. ^ Mac an Tàilleir 2003, p. 53.
  13. ^ a b Watson 1926, p. 81.
  14. ^ Watson 1926, pp. 81–82.
  15. ^ Spencer, A.M. (14 April 2011). "E18: The Late Precambrian Port Askaig Tillite in Scotland". In Hambrey, Michael J.; Harland, W. B. (eds.). Earth's Pre-Pleistocene Glacial Record. Cambridge University Press.
  16. ^ a b c Young, G.M. (1999). "Some aspects of the geochemistry, provenance and palaeoclimatology of the Torridonian of NW Scotland". Journal of the Geological Society. 156 (6): 1097–1111. Bibcode:1999JGSoc.156.1097Y. doi:10.1144/gsjgs.156.6.1097. S2CID 128600222.
  17. ^ a b c Rugen, Elias J.; Pastore, Guido; Vermeesch, Pieter; Spencer, Anthony M.; Webster, David; Smith, Adam G. G.; Carter, Andrew; Shields, Graham A. (2024). "Glacially influenced provenance and Sturtian affinity revealed by detrital zircon U–Pb ages from sandstones in the Port Askaig Formation, Dalradian Supergroup". Journal of the Geological Society. 181 (5): jgs2024-029. doi:10.1144/jgs2024-029.
  18. ^ Ghosh, Pallab (16 August 2024). "Scottish isles may solve mystery of 'Snowball Earth'". BBC. Retrieved 17 August 2024.
  19. ^ Historic Environment Scotland. "Garvellachs, Dun Chonaill (22374)". Canmore. Retrieved 17 August 2024.
  20. ^ Historic Environment Scotland. "Garvellachs, Culbrandan, A' Chuli (22375)". Canmore. Retrieved 17 August 2024.
  21. ^ Historic Environment Scotland. "Garvellachs, A' Chuli (22378)". Canmore. Retrieved 17 August 2024.
  22. ^ Historic Environment Scotland. "Garvellachs, Garbh Eileach, Rubha Mor (22373)". Canmore. Retrieved 17 August 2024.
  23. ^ "Eileach an Naoimh". Historic Environment Scotland. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
  24. ^ Pallister 2005, pp. 120, 133.
  25. ^ Marsden 1995, p. 110.
  26. ^ Historic Environment Scotland. "Garvellachs, Eileach An Naoimh (22364)". Canmore. Retrieved 17 August 2024.
  27. ^ Pallister 2005, pp. 133–34.
  28. ^ "Eileach an Naoimh: History". Historic Environment Scotland. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
Bibliography
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56°14′N 5°47′W / 56.233°N 5.783°W / 56.233; -5.783

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