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The Kilnave Cross on its plinth before the roofless chapel, the loch beyond.
Isle of Islay

Kilnave Chapel and Cross

A roofless medieval chapel and an 8th-century cross on the shore of Loch Gruinart, scene of a clan battle in 1598.

Welcome

Kilnave Chapel stands on a slope just above the shore on the west side of Loch Gruinart, in the north of Islay, looking across the water to Killinallan Point.

It is a roofless oblong with its walls complete, built in the late 1300s or early 1400s, with a very low round-headed door in the west gable and two small arched windows, one of them framing the loch. Beside it stands the Kilnave Cross, raised around the 700s, long before the chapel; it is carved on one face only, and the carving is so worn that it needs a good low light to read.

In 1598, at the end of the battle of Traigh Ghruinneart, the last great clan battle on Islay, thirty Macleans took refuge in the chapel, and the MacDonalds set fire to its thatched roof. Only one man, a Currie, escaped. In winter the fields around fill with barnacle geese.

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The Daily for 13 November, from Scotland with love. A waterfall tumbles over mossy rocks into a woodland pool, autumn leaves scattered on the water.
A little further outCaol 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.36 min by roadSee itCaol Ila Distillery

Before you go

From the RSPB visitor centre at the head of Loch Gruinart, take the single-track road up the west shore towards Ardnave for about three miles.

A little short of the end, a gate in the wall on the right leads down a grassy track of about 300 yards to the churchyard. The wall hides it, so watch for the gate.

Getting there
CalMac’s ferry from Kennacraig sails to Port Askaig while Port Ellen is closed for upgrades (from 2 June 2026, expected to reopen in 2029); Port Askaig is about 20.8 miles from Port Ellen. Or fly from Glasgow to Islay Airport.
From
The RSPB centre, 3 miles towards Ardnave.
Walk
About 300 yards across a field.

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Where it is

The west shore of Loch Gruinart, on the road to Ardnave, north Islay.

Close byOn Loch Gruinart.
  1. The dark green hide at Loch Gruinart, set low in the grass.Loch GruinartThe RSPB reserve at the head of Loch Gruinart, where tens of thousands of Greenland geese spend the winter.3 miles 12 min by road
  2. Saligo BaySaligo BayA west-coast bay of sand and rocks, known for its light, with the Sleeping Giant rock formation to the north.8 miles 21 min by road
  3. The Kilchoman kiln with its pagoda roof beside the farm road.Kilchoman DistilleryIslay's family-run farm distillery at Rockside Farm, making whisky from barley grown in its own fields.8 miles 24 min by road
  4. Surf rolling onto the beach under a wide sky.Machir BayA long Atlantic beach of pale sand below the dunes at Kilchoman on Islay, overlooked by the Otranto war graves.9 miles 24 min by road
  5. Bruichladdich DistilleryBruichladdich DistilleryA Victorian distillery on the shore of Loch Indaal making Bruichladdich, Port Charlotte, Octomore and The Botanist gin, with tours from £15.9 miles 23 min by road
  6. Port Charlotte HotelPort Charlotte HotelA small hotel by the beach in Port Charlotte, with sea-view rooms, seafood platters and live music in summer.11 miles 26 min by road
Directions
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