Eileach an Naoimh, also known as Holy Isle, is an uninhabited island in the Inner Hebrides of the west coast of Scotland. It is the southernmost of the Garvellachs archipelago and lies in the

Firth of Lorne The Firth of Lorn or Lorne ( gd, An Linne Latharnach) is the inlet of the sea between the south-east coast of the Isle of Mull and the mainland of Scotland. It includes a number of islands, and is noted for the variety of wildlife habitats that ...

between

Mull Mull may refer to: Places *Isle of Mull, a Scottish island in the Inner Hebrides ** Sound of Mull, between the Isle of Mull and the rest of Scotland * Mount Mull, Antarctica *Mull Hill, Isle of Man * Mull, Arkansas, a place along Arkansas Highway ...

and

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 ...

. The name is Gaelic for "rocky place of the saint". About 542, St. Brendan the Navigator founded a

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone ( hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer whi ...

on ''Eilach'', presumed to be the island, possibly because of the combination of its isolation and good grazing. Columba is believed to have visited the island and it is one of the proposed locations of the Columban retreat isle of

Hinba Hinba is an island in Scotland of uncertain location that was the site of a small monastery associated with the Columban church on Iona. Although a number of details are known about the monastery and its early superiors, and various anecdotes da ...

. Eileach an Naoimh may be the burial site of Columba's mother Eithne. The monastery was destroyed by – or, at least, may have become excessively vulnerable to –

Viking Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

raiders, from about 800. The island has probably seen only intermittent occupation since, which has contributed to the survival of the ruins of many of the monastic buildings, including two chapels,

beehive cell A honeycomb is a mass of hexagonal prismatic wax cells built by honey bees in their nests to contain their larvae and stores of honey and pollen. Beekeepers may remove the entire honeycomb to harvest honey. Honey bees consume about of honey ...

s, and a graveyard with three crosses and another circular grave. The cells are contained in a pentagonal enclosure overlooking the rocky landing place on the south, which is guarded by various skerries. Beyond the enclosure there is another cell with two rooms. The oldest chapel is rectangular and may date from the 11th or 12th century. The monastic ruins are the oldest ecclesiastical buildings in Scotland and the site is in the care of

Historic Environment Scotland Historic Environment Scotland (HES) ( gd, Àrainneachd Eachdraidheil Alba) is an executive non-departmental public body responsible for investigating, caring for and promoting Scotland's historic environment. HES was formed in 2015 from the mer ...

."Jura National Scenic Area"
(2010) (pdf) Extract from: ''The special qualities of the National Scenic Areas. SNH Commissioned Report No.374.''

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 s ...

. Retrieved 13 Feb 2011. If the ruins date from the time of Brendan this would potentially make them the oldest extant church buildings in Britain, although the earliest written record of their existence dates from the late 9th century. There is no ferry service, and transport to the island and its neighbours must be arranged privately.

Footnotes

External links

Canmore
{{coord, 56, 13, 21, N, 5, 48, 22, W, region:GB_type:isle, display=title Uninhabited islands of Argyll and Bute Historic Scotland properties in Argyll and Bute