The Eileans

The Eileans are two small, low-lying islands located in Newtown Bay, Millport on the island of

Great Cumbrae Great Cumbrae ( sco, Muckle Cumbrae; gd, Cumaradh Mòr; also known as Great Cumbrae Island, Cumbrae or the Isle of Cumbrae) is the larger of the two islands known as The Cumbraes in the lower Firth of Clyde in western Scotland. The island is s ...

, Scotland. (). The name is an anglicisation of the

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic ( gd, Gàidhlig ), also known as Scots Gaelic and Gaelic, is a Goidelic language (in the Celtic branch of the Indo-European language family) native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, as well as ...

, ''eilean'' meaning "island". Unusually for the west coast of Scotland, the two islands appear to have no individual names of their own and as such are always referred to collectively. The islands were mined for stone in the Victorian times, during the busy expansion of Millport. Today the islands are home to a small colony of harbour seals. Three smaller rocks, the Leug (possibly Gaelic:

gemstone A gemstone (also called a fine gem, jewel, precious stone, or semiprecious stone) is a piece of mineral crystal which, in cut and polished form, is used to make jewelry or other adornments. However, certain rocks (such as lapis lazuli, opal, ...

), the Spoig (Gaelic:

paw A paw is the soft foot-like part of a mammal, generally a quadruped, that has claws. Common characteristics The paw is characterised by thin, pigmented, keratinised, hairless epidermis covering subcutaneous collagenous and adipose tissue, ...

) and the Clach (Gaelic: stone) lie to the west. Islands of the Clyde The Cumbraes Islands of North Ayrshire {{NorthAyrshire-geo-stub