Crinan ( gd, An Crìonan) is a small village located on the west coast of Scotland in the region known as

Knapdale Knapdale ( gd, Cnapadal, IPA: �kraʰpət̪əɫ̪ forms a rural district of Argyll and Bute in the Scottish Highlands, adjoining Kintyre to the south, and divided from the rest of Argyll to the north by the Crinan Canal. It includes two parishes, ...

, which is part of

Argyll and Bute Argyll and Bute ( sco, Argyll an Buit; gd, Earra-Ghàidheal agus Bòd, ) is one of 32 unitary authority council areas in Scotland and a lieutenancy area. The current lord-lieutenant for Argyll and Bute is Jane Margaret MacLeod (14 July 2020) ...

. Before the Crinan Canal was built, Crinan was named Port Righ which meant the king's port. The canal was named from the small settlement of Crinan Ferry on the edge of

Loch Crinan Loch Crinan is a seawater loch on the West of Scotland, leading into the Sound of Jura The Sound of Jura () is a strait in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It is one of the several Sounds of Scotland. It is to the east of the island of Jura and ...

where a small ferry landed. The name Crinan probably derives from the

Creones The Creones were a people of ancient Britain, known only from a single mention of them by the geographer Ptolemy c. 150. From his general description and the approximate locations of their neighbors, their territory was along the western coast of ...

tribe who lived in the area in 140 AD. The canal starts at Ardrishaig sea loch on

Loch Gilp Loch Gilp (Scottish Gaelic: "Loch Gilb") is a small inlet on Loch Fyne which gives its name to Lochgilphead. The Crinan Canal extends from the loch ''Loch'' () is the Scottish Gaelic, Scots and Irish word for a lake or sea inlet. It is ...

, and ends away at Crinan sea loch on the

Sound of Jura The Sound of Jura () is a strait in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It is one of the several Sounds of Scotland. It is to the east of the island of Jura and to the west of Knapdale, part of a peninsula of the Scottish mainland. The Crinan Canal' ...

. The canal was designed to provide a short cut between the west coast and islands at one end and the

Clyde Clyde may refer to: People * Clyde (given name) * Clyde (surname) Places For townships see also Clyde Township Australia * Clyde, New South Wales * Clyde, Victoria * Clyde River, New South Wales Canada * Clyde, Alberta * Clyde, Ontario, a tow ...

estuary at the other, and so avoid the long voyage around the south end of the

Kintyre Kintyre ( gd, Cinn Tìre, ) is a peninsula in western Scotland, in the southwest of Argyll and Bute. The peninsula stretches about , from the Mull of Kintyre in the south to East and West Loch Tarbert in the north. The region immediately nor ...

Peninsula. By the canal basin is a coffee shop and the nearby

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a re ...

and looks out across Loch Crinan to

Duntrune Castle Duntrune Castle is located on the north side of Loch Crinan and across from the village of Crinan in Argyll, Scotland. It is thought to be the oldest continuously occupied castle on mainland Scotland. The castle is a category B listed building. ...

. Crinan Post Office is in the old Harbour House. Crinan Boatyard provides services and facilities for commercial and leisure boaters. A scallop farming business operates from the loch. The Crinan Wood is home to

fern A fern (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta ) is a member of a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. The polypodiophytes include all living pteridophytes exce ...

s, lichens and 24 species of bird. Parts of the TV series ''

The Tales of Para Handy ''The Tales of Para Handy'' is a Scottish television series set in the western isles of Scotland in the 1930s, based on the Para Handy books by Neil Munro. It starred Gregor Fisher as Captain Peter "Para Handy" MacFarlane, Sean Scanlan as firs ...

'' were filmed here.

References

External links

Villages in Knapdale {{Argyll-geo-stub