Bernera Island ( gd, Beàrnaraigh) or simply Bernera is a

tidal island A tidal island is a piece of land that is connected to the mainland by a natural or man-made causeway that is exposed at low tide and submerged at high tide. Because of the mystique surrounding tidal islands, many of them have been sites of ...

off Lismore, in

Argyll Argyll (; archaically Argyle, in modern Gaelic, ), sometimes called Argyllshire, is a historic county and registration county of western Scotland. Argyll is of ancient origin, and corresponds to most of the part of the ancient kingdom of ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

History

In the 6th century, Bernera was settled by monks of the Irish

Culdee The Culdees ( ga, Céilí Dé, "Spouses of God") were members of ascetic Christian monastic and eremitical communities of Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England in the Middle Ages. Appearing first in Ireland and subsequently in Scotland, attac ...

church under the leadership of

St. Moluag Saint Moluag (c. 510 – 592; also known as ''Lua'', ''Luan'', ''Luanus'', ''Lugaidh'', ''Moloag'', ''Molluog'', ''Molua'', ''Murlach'', ''Malew''

St. Columba Columba or Colmcille; gd, Calum Cille; gv, Colum Keeilley; non, Kolban or at least partly reinterpreted as (7 December 521 – 9 June 597 AD) was an Irish abbot and missionary evangelist credited with spreading Christianity in what is toda ...

used the island as a private place for retreat, meditation and prayer, and may have preached under (and possibly planted) a vast yew tree. It is reported that the wood was turned into a staircase for Lochnell Castle at Ardmenhuis and survived at least two fires, which burned down the rest of the building. The island has the remains of an ancient chapel and burial ground.

Natural history

The island is limestone and this reflected in the diversity of species found on the island. Bernera Island is designated a

Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle of ...

on the basis of its feature of limestone maritime cliffs along with the presence of the nationally scarce

rock whitebeam ''Aria rupicola'', commonly known as rock whitebeam, is a rare species of shrub or small tree best known from the British Isles but also reported from Norway, Sweden and Russia. Reaching heights of 10 m,''New Flora of the British Isles''; Clive ...

. The

common seal The harbor (or harbour) seal (''Phoca vitulina''), also known as the common seal, is a true seal found along temperate and Arctic marine coastlines of the Northern Hemisphere. The most widely distributed species of pinnipeds, pinniped (walruses ...

is a regular visitor to the coastal strip between the high and low water marks. This

littoral The littoral zone or nearshore is the part of a sea, lake, or river that is close to the shore. In coastal ecology, the littoral zone includes the intertidal zone extending from the high water mark (which is rarely inundated), to coastal areas ...

zone forms part of the ''Eileanan agus Sgeirean Lios mòr''

Special Area of Conservation A Special Area of Conservation (SAC) is defined in the European Union's Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC), also known as the ''Directive on the Conservation of Natural Habitats and of Wild Fauna and Flora''. They are to protect the 220 habitats and ap ...

along with the nearby islets of Eilean na Cloich and Eilean Dubh in the Lynn of Lorn to the east and Dubh Sgeir and Eilean Gainimh in the Lynn of Morvern to the west.''Eileanan agus Sgeiran Lios mór Special Area of Conservation: Advice under Regulation 33(2)'' (2006)

Scottish Natural Heritage NatureScot ( gd, NàdarAlba), which was formerly known as Scottish Natural Heritage, is an executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government responsible for the country's natural heritage, especially its natural, genetic and ...

References

Uninhabited islands of Argyll and Bute Lismore, Scotland Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Lorne Tidal islands of Scotland {{Argyll-geo-stub