Bowmore ( gd, Bogh Mòr, 'Big Bend') is a small

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

on the Scottish island of

Islay Islay ( ; gd, Ìle, sco, Ila) is the southernmost island of the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. Known as "The Queen of the Hebrides", it lies in Argyll just south west of Jura, Scotland, Jura and around north of the Northern Irish coast. The isl ...

. It serves as administrative capital of the island, and gives its name to the noted Bowmore distillery producing Bowmore

single malt scotch whisky Single malt Scotch refers to single malt whisky made in Scotland. To qualify for this category, a whisky must have been distilled at a single distillery using a pot still distillation process and made from a mash of malted barley. Therefore, ...

History

Bowmore is a

planned village A planned community, planned city, planned town, or planned settlement is any community that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed on previously undeveloped land. This contrasts with settlements that evolve ...

with wide streets on a grid-iron pattern. It has its origins in an earlier settlement, Kilarrow, which until c. 1770 occupied the site of the present grounds of Islay House near

Bridgend Bridgend (; cy, Pen-y-bont ar Ogwr or just , meaning "the end of the bridge on the Ogmore") is a town in Bridgend County Borough in Wales, west of Cardiff and east of Swansea. The town is named after the Old Bridge, Bridgend, medieval bridge ...

.The ruined monastery of Kilarrow on Islay
British Library In May 1685, Kilarrow was the scene of the first stages of

Argyll's Rising Argyll's Rising, also known as Argyll's Rebellion, was an attempt in June 1685 to overthrow James II and VII. Led by Archibald Campbell, 9th Earl of Argyll, the rising was intended to tie down Royal forces in Scotland while a simultaneous reb ...

, when rebels under the

Earl of Argyll Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. The title originates in the Old English word ''eorl'', meaning "a man of noble birth or rank". The word is cognate with the Scandinavian form '' jarl'', and meant "chieftain", particula ...

arrived from Netherlands in an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow

King James II and VII James VII and II (14 October 1633 16 September 1701) was King of England and King of Ireland as James II, and King of Scotland as James VII from the death of his elder brother, Charles II, on 6 February 1685. He was deposed in the Gloriou ...

. As part of his plans for improvements at Islay House, Daniel Campbell the Younger initiated the construction of the new village in 1770, just after the completion of the new

Kilarrow Parish Church Kilarrow Church ( gd, Eaglais Cill an Rubha) is a Church of Scotland parish church, overlooking and serving Bowmore on the island of Islay. The "Round Church", as it is often known, was built in 1767. It has a highly unusual circular design, co ...

, which was built in a unique circular shape. The old village of Kilarrow and its church dedicated to St Maelrhuba, were then demolished, and its residents were relocated to the new village of Bowmore. Kilarrow Old Churchyard still exists close to the site of the former village.Islay, Kilarrow
Canmore The Bowmore distillery came into operation some time before 1816 and is situated on the shores of

Loch Indaal Loch Indaal (or Lochindaal) is a sea loch on Islay, the southernmost island of the Hebrides, off the west coast of Scotland. Together with Loch Gruinart to the north, it was formed by the Loch Gruinart Fault, which branches off the Great Glen ...

. In the 1980s, one of the distillery's warehouses was gifted to the community for conversion to a swimming pool and leisure centre. Named the Mactaggart Centre after one of the scheme's major donors, Sir John Mactaggart, it uses an innovative system of underground pipes to transfer waste heat from the distillery to the water for the swimming pool.Mactaggart Leisure Centre and Swimming Pool Bowmore
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Bowmore in WWII

There was a

RAF The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

seaplane base at Bowmore during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

called

RAF Bowmore Royal Air Force Bowmore or more simply RAF Bowmore is a former Royal Air Force seaplane station located in Bowmore, Argyll and Bute, Scotland. The following units were here at some point: * No. 119 Squadron RAF reformed here on 13 March 1941 and ...

Short Sunderland The Short S.25 Sunderland is a British flying boat patrol bomber, developed and constructed by Short Brothers for the Royal Air Force (RAF). The aircraft took its service name from the town (latterly, city) and port of Sunderland in North East ...

and

Consolidated PBY Catalina The Consolidated PBY Catalina is a flying boat and amphibious aircraft that was produced in the 1930s and 1940s. In Canadian service it was known as the Canso. It was one of the most widely used seaplanes of World War II. Catalinas served w ...

flying boat A flying boat is a type of fixed-winged seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a floatplane in that a flying boat's fuselage is purpose-designed for floatation and contains a hull, while floatplanes rely on fusela ...

s operated from

. Some of the wartime film ''

Coastal Command RAF Coastal Command was a formation within the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was founded in 1936, when the RAF was restructured into Fighter, Bomber and Coastal Commands and played an important role during the Second World War. Maritime Aviation ...

'' was filmed in Bowmore - fictional name RAF Ferry Bay - and it features a shot of a Sunderland flying low over the main street of Bowmore and over Kilarrow Parish Church.

Facilities

Bowmore has several hotels, restaurants, shops, a

hospital A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment with specialized health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically has an emerge ...

, a high school and is home to the ''Ìleach'' newspaper, community newspaper of the year 2006. Bowmore is also host to Ionad Chaluim Chille Ìle (the

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 ...

Centre), a cultural centre and college founded with the aim of promoting Gaelic

language revival Language revitalization, also referred to as language revival or reversing language shift, is an attempt to halt or reverse the decline of a language or to revive an extinct one. Those involved can include linguists, cultural or community groups, o ...

and heritage on the Island.

Noted residents

Donald Caskie Donald Currie Caskie DD OBE OCF (22 May 190227 December 1983) was a minister in the Church of Scotland, best known for his work in France during World War II. He was a member of the Pat O'Leary escape line which helped up to 500 Allied sai ...

, noted as the "Tartan Pimpernel" for his wartime exploits in France, is one of Bowmore's most noted sons. He was responsible for the safe passage of numerous exiles through the Scots Kirk in Paris during World War II, risking both life and limb. * In more recent times, Glenn Campbell can be seen regularly on

BBC Scotland BBC Scotland (Scottish Gaelic: ''BBC Alba'') is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Scotland. It is one of the four BBC national regions, together with the BBC English Regions, BBC Cymru Wales and BBC Northern Ireland. I ...

as their political correspondent. * William Livingstone ( gd, Uilleam Mac Dhunlèibhe) (1808-1870), an important figure in 19th-century

Scottish Gaelic literature Scottish Gaelic literature refers to literature composed in the Scottish Gaelic language and in the Gàidhealtachd communities where it is and has been spoken. Scottish Gaelic is a member of the Goidelic branch of Celtic languages, along with Iri ...

and chronicler of the

Highland Clearances The Highland Clearances ( gd, Fuadaichean nan Gàidheal , the "eviction of the Gaels") were the evictions of a significant number of tenants in the Scottish Highlands and Islands, mostly in two phases from 1750 to 1860. The first phase resulte ...

upon Islay, was born upon Gartmain farm near Bowmore. Edited by Donald E. Meek (2019), ''The Wiles of the World Caran an t-Saohgail: Anthology of 19th-century Scottish Gaelic Verse'', Birlinn Limited. Page 478.

Gallery

File:Bowmore dist.JPG, Distillery of Bowmore File:Bowmore Round Church.JPG, Round Church of Bowmore

References

External links

Ileach Community Newspaper
{{Islay Villages in Islay