Finlaggan – The Island Seat of the Lords of the Isles
¾ mile · 1 hour · there and back
free parking · dogs on a lead
A small island in a quiet loch on Islay, about ten minutes' drive from the ferry at Port Askaig, was once the centre of a lordship that ruled the western seas.
This short walk crosses the reeds to it, with the Paps of Jura on the skyline.
Where it starts
Start at the Finlaggan Trust's car park beside the visitor centre, at the end of the farm road off the A846 about a mile north of Ballygrant; no charge is recorded.
Is it for me?
Tap who is coming, or the day you have, for the answer on this walk.
Before you go
On the path
About an hour: some 600 metres each way from the car park, on the level. A path across a farm field and a timber walkway to the island, then rough grass among the ruins. For children, a short, level walk; open water either side of the walkway. The map to carry is OS Landranger 60, Islay (1:50,000).
Good to know
All year, in daylight. Wind can stop the Islay ferry: look at CalMac's service status page on the morning you travel. Dogs on a lead at all times, the Trust asks. Toilets none when the visitor centre is shut. The visitor centre is seasonal and isn't to be counted on from mid October: ring 01496 840644. The road in is a gravel farm road on a working farm. Every Islay ferry uses Port Askaig while Port Ellen's terminal is closed, until 2029. No ferry on 25 December or 1 January. Wind can stop the boat: look at CalMac's service status page on the morning you travel.
The walk
The walk to Eilean Mòr starts at the Finlaggan Trust's car park, beside its visitor centre: about 600 metres, or 0.4 miles, each way, ten minutes or so on foot, so allow about an hour with time on the island. Through a kissing gate, a grassy path runs gently down over a farm field, wet underfoot after rain, to a gate and a timber walkway of some 110 metres across the reeds and the water; on the island the ground is rough grass among low walls. The way back is the same path, gently uphill.
Through the 1300s and 1400s this was the seat of the Lords of the Isles, the MacDonald chiefs who held the western seaboard from Kintyre to Lewis, in name for the Scottish Crown, until the title was forfeited in 1493. The name Finlaggan is said to come from St Findlugan, an Irish monk of Columba's day, to whom the island's chapel is dedicated.
Most of the low walls are those of a farmstead of the 1600s that came after the lords, but the roofless chapel goes back to their time. Its carved grave slabs are kept under glass, and tradition has the lords' wives and children buried here and the lords themselves on Iona. Look for the slab with a warrior's figure, thought to be of the 1500s. Beyond lies Eilean na Comhairle, the Council Island, where the Council of the Isles met: a largely man-made island, with an Iron Age fort and a castle of the 1200s under the hall where the Council sat. A stone causeway once joined it to Eilean Mòr; today it is seen from Eilean Mòr rather than visited.
The island and the walkway are open at all hours, all year. The Trust's visitor centre, which holds finds from the digs, among them a carved cross head and a slab showing a sword and a birlinn, the galley of the isles, is closed this year. There is no charge: the Trust asks for a donation, in the box at the bridge or at the car park. No toilet is recorded at Finlaggan. For news of the centre, ring the Trust on 01496 840644 or email finlaggan@outlook.com.
If it rains
There is no shelter on the island and the field path is muddy after rain, so go in waterproofs and boots.
Before you go
Book CalMac's Kennacraig to Port Askaig ferry before you travel, out and back, even as a foot passenger; the crossing takes 1 hour 55 minutes.
After the walk
Coffee and cake, something to do with the rest of the day, and dinner, nearest the end of the walk first.
Straight after
17 min by roadA restaurantBowmore HotelA family-run hotel on Jamieson Street in Bowmore, with Lucci's Whisky Bar and some 1,800 Islay and Jura malts.
17 min by roadA restaurantPeatzeriaAn Italian restaurant and takeaway on the seafront in Bowmore, with pizzas topped with Islay crab and scallops.With the rest of the day
8 min by roadThings to doPort AskaigIslay's northern ferry port, a tiny white village on the Sound of Islay, half a mile across the water from Jura.
10 min by roadThings to doCaol Ila DistilleryThe distillery on the Sound of Islay near Port Askaig, the Islay Home of Johnnie Walker, with tours from £21 and views to Jura.For dinner
Ballygrant Inn, 6 minutes by road. A family-run inn near Port Askaig with rooms, home cooking and an award-winning whisky bar.
Bowmore Hotel in Bowmore, 17 minutes by road. A family-run hotel on Jamieson Street in Bowmore, with Lucci's Whisky Bar and some 1,800 Islay and Jura malts.
Peatzeria in Bowmore, 17 minutes by road. An Italian restaurant and takeaway on the seafront in Bowmore, with pizzas topped with Islay crab and scallops.
Places to stay near the walk
The places to stay nearest the walk.
None of ours is within an hour by road. The nearest, as the crow flies, is The Hollies in Tighnabruaich, 36 miles away.
Then Fern Cottage in Croggan, 41 miles away.
Did this walk?
Tell the next person how it went. The best go on this page, with your name.
For further reading, before you go.
Maps from OpenFreeMap © OpenMapTiles, data © OpenStreetMap contributors; heights from Mapzen's terrain tiles.