Lismore (, possibly meaning "great enclosure" or "garden") is an island of around in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. It is in the council area of Argyll and Bute. The climate is damp and mild, with over of rain recorded annually. This fertile, low-lying island was once a major centre of Celtic Christianity, with a 6th-century monastery associated with Saint Moluag, and later became the seat of the medieval Bishop of Argyll. There are numerous ruined structures, including a broch and two 13th-century castles.
During the 19th century, various new industries were introduced, including lime quarrying. During the early decades of the 20th century, the population exceeded 1,000, but this was followed by a lengthy decline. Although resident numbers are now less than 200, there was a small increase from 2001 to 2011. About a third of the population were recorded as Gaelic-speaking at the former date. The modern economy is largely based on farming, fishing and tourism, and the largest settlement is Achnacroish. Various shipwrecks have been recorded in the vicinity.
Etymology In the Gaelic name, lios means "garden"Mac an Tàilleir (2003) p. 80 or "enclosure", and mòr is simply "big" or "great", reflecting either the fertility of the island amidst mountainous surroundings, or the presence of a defined area surrounding the early monastery.Murray (1977) p. 155 One of the earliest English language references is to "Lismoir", recorded in the 16th century.Monro (1549) "Lismoir" no. 54
Achnacroish is from Achadh na Croise and means "the field of the cross".Mac an Tàilleir (2003) p. 3 The other small settlements are Clachan (village with a church)Mac an Tàilleir (2003) p. 30 and Port Ramsay, opposite Eilean Ramsay (Ramsay's isle). Most of the surrounding islets have descriptive names, such as Eilean Dubh (black island), Eilean nan Gamhna (isle of the stirks) and Pladda (flat island, from Old Norse).Mac an Tàilleir (2003) p. 96Am Faclair Beag: An English - Scottish Gaelic dictionary incorporating Dwelly Faclair.com. Retrieved 1 December 2012.
Geology Lismore is formed almost wholly from rocks of the Neoproterozoic age Lismore Limestone Formation, which is ascribed to the Blair Atholl Subgroup of the Appin Group within the Dalradian sequence. There are also some minor graphitic pelites (sometimes described as 'interbedded black slate',Gray (1974) p. 83Stephenson and Merritt (2010) pp. 3, 13 within the formation. The limestone country rock is intruded by a handful of NE-SW aligned lamprophyre dykes of Silurian to early Devonian age associated with the Strontian Granite Complex and by large numbers of NW-SE aligned dykes of dolerite and basalt of Palaeogene age along with a rather fewer number assigned to the ‘Loch Scridain Suite.
Quaternary deposits include glacial till and peat alongside some small patches of alluvium (clay, silt, sand and gravel) which occupy lower ground. Around the margins of Lismore are modern beach deposits and raised marine deposits of clay, silt and sand, the latter being a product of varying relative sea-levels during the Holocene epoch. The whole of Scotland was subjected to glaciation during the Pleistocene epoch. A sign of this on Lismore is the presence of rock-cut platforms close to the seashore that indicate the changing sea-levels; in some areas of the northern coast, they also betray the presence of ice by the striation marks on the rocks.McCann (1966) pp. 90-91
Geography
The island of Lismore lies in Loch Linnhe, north east of Mull, in the Argyll and Bute council area. It is long and about wide and oriented from SW to NE, roughly parallel to the Great Glen Fault. To the east is an arm of Loch Linnhe known as the Lynn of Lorn. Composed almost entirely of limestone, Lismore has fertile soil and an abundance of trees and shrubs, including ash and sycamore. The topography consists of sheltered furrows of land between raised areas that run longitudinally up the island's spine.Stephenson and Merritt (2010) p. 13
The area of the island is and the highest elevation is Barr Mòr in the south above Kilcheran, which reaches only . (Haswell-Smith ranks Lismore as the 50th offshore Scottish island by height).Haswell-Smith (2004) p. 504
There are several small lochs on the island, the largest of which are Loch Fiart in the southwest, Kilcheran Loch further northeast, and Loch Baile a' Ghobhainn another northeast, north of Achnacroish. These three water bodies form the Lismore Lochs Special Area of Conservation, a status which is accorded as they are amongst the best examples in Scotland of lochs on a limestone substrate. The alkaline waters are very clear and low in nutrients and support the rare Chara stoneworts C. rudis and C. curtis. C. pedunculata has also been recorded."Lismore Lochs". JNCC. Retrieved 3 October 2013. The lochs lie longitudinally down the island and are of roughly similar size. The total surface area of all three combined is about , and they are inhabited by trout."Lismore Lochs - Natura 2000 data form". (pdf) JNCC. Retrieved 3 October 2013.
Lismore is part of the ancient district of Lorne and is said to lie "in the cockpit" of this territory.Fraser (2009) p. 106, quoting Aidan MacDonald. In the modern day, it is at the heart of the Lynn of Lorn National Scenic Area, one of forty such areas in Scotland, which have been defined so as to identify areas of exceptional scenery and to ensure its protection from inappropriate development. The national scenic areas cover 15,726 ha, of which 10,088 ha are marine seascape, and includes the whole of Lismore, along with neighbouring areas on the mainland such as Benderloch and Port Appin, and the Shuna Island.
The views from Barr Mòr, the island's highest point, are superlative. Although Barr Mòr is only of modest height, from there "the skyscape is vast and made so not by its emptiness, but by the throng of high and pointed hills lifting out of the glittering seas and islands. Nowhere else on the Highland coast can you enjoy a view of the mountainous mainland to equal this one."Murray (1977) p. 157
The offshore islets of Eilean na Cloich and Eilean Dubh in the Lynn of Lorn and Bernera and Dubh Sgeir in the Lynn of Morvern to the west and Eilean Gainimh to the NE are extensively used by common seals and form the Eileanan agus Sgeirean Lios mòr Special Area of Conservation.Eileanan agus Sgeiran Lios mór Special Area of Conservation: Advice under Regulation 33(2) (2006) Scottish Natural Heritage. The whole island of Bernera is also an SSSI, its limestone maritime cliffs being a key feature along with the presence of the nationally scarce rock whitebeam. Creag Island and Pladda are other islets in the Lynn of Lorn. Eilean nan Caorach, Inn Island, Eilean Droineach and Eilean Ramsay are amongst another cluster of small islands off the north coast, and Eilean Loch Oscair is to the NW. Lismore Lighthouse, built by Robert Stevenson, lies on the small island of Eilean Musdile to the south west, with Lady's Rock a kilometre further away in the same direction.
Climate Lismore has a maritime climate with cool summers and mild winters. The nearest official Met Office weather station for which online records are available is Dunstaffnage on the mainland north of Oban.
Prehistory
There are various Bronze Age cairns on the island.Hay (2009) Birlinn overview. Birlinn. Retrieved 10 August 2013. Tirefour Castle is an Iron Age broch of an uncertain date that is a prominent landmark on Lismore's east coast. The walls have an average thickness of , enclosing a circular court about in diameter. The wall still stands high and reaches in the south east. There is a second possible broch site at An Dùn, SW of Loch Fiart, and these are amongst the most southerly examples of these enigmatic fortifications.Creegan (1976) p. 65 There are also various duns on the island that may date to the 1st or 2nd centuries AD.
History Early Christianity and Scandinavian influence Lismore was an important centre of Celtic Christianity from an early date. The Iona Chronicle records the death of Mo-Luóc (also known as Moluag), who was probably abbot of the Lismore monastery in 594, and of his successors Neman in 613 and Eochaid in 637. There is, however, no reason to suppose that this was a daughter house of Columba's abbey on Iona itself.Fraser (2009) pp. 105-06 Lismore probably maintained its status as the principal religious house of the Cenél Loairn during the remainder of the 7th centuryFraser (2009) p. 250 and the deaths of abbots Iarnlaigh c. 700, Colmán in 704 and Crónán ua Eoain in 718 are recorded in the Annals of Ulster. Five further such obituaries are recorded in the latter half of the 8th century.Fraser (2009) p. 372
Lismore was part of the kingdom of Dalriada in the 6th century and probably thereafter until the arrival of the Vikings in the late 8th century, after which it is likely the island was absorbed into the Norse-Gael Kingdom of the Isles. Magnus Barelegs had established direct Norwegian overlordship over this sprawling sea kingdom by 1098.Duffy (1992) pp. 110 In that year, Edgar of Scotland signed a treaty with Magnus which settled much of the boundary between the Scots and Norwegian claims in these islands. Edgar formally acknowledged the existing situation by giving up his claims to the Hebrides but there were a few exceptions including Luing and Lismore, which were retained by the Scots.Sellar (2000) p. 191
Medieval period
Lismore later became the seat of the medieval Bishopric of Argyll. Before the late 12th century the Bishopric of Dunkeld included all of Argyll, but sometime between 1183 and 1193 they were separated, as apparently the then Bishop John Scotus was unable to speak Gaelic.Turner (1998) p. 646Murray (1977) p. 156 Lismore became the seat of the new bishop, and he and his successors were known as Episcopi Lismorenses but a papal mandate in 1249 proposed that the seat be transferred to "some more secure and accessible place".Turner (1998) p. 648 At least by 1268, Laurence de Ergadia became Bishop of Argyll and served in that position until his death in 1299.Dowden, Bishops, p. 379.
In the event St Moluag's cathedral at Clachan maintained its position until 1507, when the diocese's centre was moved to Saddell in Kintyre. It was burned down during the Reformation and only the choir survives in greatly altered form, the nave and western tower having been reduced to their foundations. There is also evidence of an enclosure, probably medieval.Macdonald (1974) Abstract. British and Irish Archaeological Bibliography. Retrieved 3 August 2013.
The ruins of Coeffin Castle stand on the summit of a rocky promontory on the coast west of Clachan. There is the outline of an oblong hall-house, which may be 13th century, and an irregularly shaped bailey, likely of a later date. A tidal fish trap, of unknown age, is located in the small bay to the south-east of the castle. To the north-east of the castle are the remains of a stone-walled fort.
The remains of Achanduin Castle west of Achnacroish is also thought to date back to the 13th century. Built by the MacDougalls around 1290, who held it throughout the 14th century,Turner (1998) pp. 650-51 the castle is then thought to have been held by the Bishops of Argyll until the mid 16th century. The castle overlooks the island of Bernera.