Islay place names

Visitors to Islay, looking at the road signs or at the Ordnance Survey map, are confronted with some bewildering place names. However, this often arouses an interest to learn not only what the names mean, but also how to pronounce them more or less correctly. The Museum of Islay Life has produced a guide with place names and what follows is an extract from that guide.

The majority of Islay place names derive from Gaelic, while the more readable names are either Norse in origin or have been anglicised from one or other language. The origin is indicated in the second column of the second table by the following key:

The meanings of the names given in this guide have been gleaned from publications in the Museum library as well as from local tradition. Where there is no single agreed meaning for a name, which happens quite often, alternatives are given. Differences in pronunciation can be found even among neighbours, let alone between people living at opposite ends of the island! The guide therefor relied almost entirely on the accent of just one person, who was brought up in Bowmore, but lived for many years on the Rinns of Islay. The intention of this guide is to convey, in the most straightforward way the writers of this guide have been able to devise, the nearest possible rendering of each word by using very simple phonetics. For some of the more difficult names an anglicised version in italics has been added.

Some common components of place names. The number of place names in the guide is limited and doesn’t cover all the place names on Islay. Many more can be translated if some of the commoner components can be recognised. The following list is not exhaustive but should help in understanding more names.

Place name component	Meaning	Place name component	Meaning
a’/an	of the	Gart	field
Abhain/Abhainn	river	Glas/Ghlas	grey
Airigh	Sheiling	Gleann	glen
Allt	stream	Goirt/Gort	field, garden
Ard	promontory	Kil	church, chapel
Balle/Balli/Bally	township	Kin	end
Beag/Beg	little	Knock	hill
Beinn	mountain/hill	Lag	hollow
Breac	speckled	Leac	rock
Buidhe	yellow	Maol	a bald pate (hills)
Bun	river	Moine	moor, bog
Bus (as Suffix)	farm	Mor(e)	big, large
Caol	sound, channel	Mullach	summit
Carn	cairn	Na	of the
Carraig	sea-rock	Poll	pool
Clach	stone	Port	bay, harbour
Clad	shore	Ruadh	red
Cnoc	hill	Rudh	promontory
Coille	forest, wood	Sgeir	reef
Craig/Creag	crag, rock	Sgorr	steep, craggy hill
Cruach	hill	Tigh	house
Doire	grove	Tobar	well
Druim	ridge	Ton	headland
Dubh	black	Torr	hill
Dun	fort	Traigh	strand
Eilean	island/islet	Uisge	water

Pronunciation guide

The following table gives place names, their meaning and pronunciation. Stress is indicated by underlining the appropriate syllable, as in Bow-more. Hyphens are used to separate the different syllables making up each name, as in Ba-lee-vick-ar, but they do not denote any kind of gap or stop in the voice.

Islay (A) is pronounced Eye-la. Ideas differ about the derivation of the name Islay. Various possibilities have been put forward, including “island divided in two” and “the law island”, while it also has been suggested that the name derives from a Pictish princess called Ile, who lived around 650-700 AD. Otherwise the name seems to have emerged around that time with no obvious reason for it.

According to Domhnall Maceacharna, the earliest known reference to the island comes in Adamnan’s biography of the Irish saint, Columba, written in about 720 AD. St Columba visited Islay on his way north, prior to setting up the famous monastery on the island of Iona, off the south-west tip of Mull. Adamnan wrote it is ‘Ilea’, describing it as an inhabited island, “Ilea insula habitabat”, and also as ‘green, grassy Islay’, a phrase which is still used in the Gaelic, “Ile Ghorm an Fheoir”.

In a text in 740, it is spelt ‘Ili’, while by 1095 it had become Yle. From then on, it is commonly Ila, Yla and Ilay. The present spelling was not widely adopted until about 1800. It is as if more modern writers were unhappy with Yla or Ilay and added an ‘s’ to make it look more like the word ‘island’. It should be noted that Islay is the anglicised spelling; in Gaelic the island is still spelt Ile.

Peggy Earl’s favourite theory, however, concerned a Danish Princess called Iula, or Yula, who left Denmark with an apron full of stones of different sizes. As she proceeded on her journey some of the stones fell out, one becoming Ireland, another Rathlin and a third Texa. The remainder of the stones fell out and became the string of islands from Ardbeg to Kildalton. She perished in the soft sands off that coast and was taken to Seonais Hill above Loch Cnoc and buried there. What was described in the Statistical Account of 1794 as the grave of “a daughter of one of the Kings of Denmark” is marked by two small standing stones about 10 m apart, though there is, sadly, no good evidence to support this tradition. Islay is said to have got its name from this lady, or perhaps she may have taken her name from Islay.

Place name	Origin	Meaning	Pronunciation
Abhainn Mhuilinn	G	Mill River	A-vin a vool -in
Allt a’Chromain	G	stream of the bend, or kite stream	Alt a- chro -man
Allt na Criche	G	boundary stream	Alt na creesh
Alt an Daimh	G	stream of the cattle	Alt an dive
An Sithean	G	fairy hill	An sheen
Aoradh	G	place of sun worship	Uar -rug
Ard Imersay	G/N	promontory of the emmer goose	Ard  im -er-say
Ardbeg	G	little height or promontory	Ard- beg
Ardilistry	G	promontory of the cave residence or height	Ard- ill -iss-tree
Ardmore	G	great height or promontory	Ard- more
Ardnahoe	N	height of the howe/mound cairn/burial ground	Ard-na- hoe
Ardnave	G/A	height of the cave, or high holy place	Ard- nave
Ardtalla	G	rock height	Ard- tal -a
Ballachlaven	G	town of the buzzard	Bal-lu- chla -veen
Ballinaby	G	town of the abbot	Ba-lin- a -bee
Ballivicar	G	town of the vicar	Ba-lee- vick -ar
Ballygrant	G	grain town, or store township	Ba-lee- grant
Beinn Bheigeir	G	mountain of the vicar	Bane vic -ar
Beinn Bhreac	G	speckled mountain	Bane vrechk  (ch as in Bach)
Beinn Cham	G	crooked mountain	Bane cham  (ch as in Bach)
Beinn Churlaich	G	gravelly mountain	Bane chur -leech
Beinn Dubh	G	black mountain	Bane doo
Beinn Roineach	G	bracken mountain	Bane roi -nich (ch as in Bach)
Beinn Tart a’Mhill	G	mountain of drought	Bane tart a-vil
* A local saying, translated from a Gaelic proverb, states: “As long as there is a cap (=mist) on Beinn Tart a’Mhill, there will be no thirst at Bolsay or Kelsay”
Biod nan Sgarbh	G	cormorant point	Bee -od-nan-sgar-iv
Bolsay	N	homestead farm	Bowl -say
Bowmore	G	great see reef or sea rock	Bow- more
Braigo	N	head of the gully, or possible broad inlet	Bry -go
* Although the house is actually two miles from the broad inlet, when seen from a distance it appears to be much closer to the gully.
Bridgend	mouth of the ford	Bridge- end
Bruichladdich	G	brae of the shore	Broo-ch- lad -ee (ch as in Bach)
Bunnahabhain	G	river mouth	Boo-na- ha -ven
Calumkill	G	St Columba’s church	Cal-um- kil
Caol Ila	G	sound of Islay	Col  ee -la
Carnain	G	a light for mariners	Car- nan
Carnduncan	G	Duncan’s cairn	Carn- dun -can
Carrabus	N	copse of brushwood farm	Car -a-bus
Carraigh Fhada	G	the long sea rock	Car-rick  fa -ta
Claggain  (bay)	G	skull bay or arable land	Cla -gain
Cnoc Donn Mhor	G	big brown hill	Crochk don  more
Coille	G	forest	Cule -ye
Conisby	N	King’s estate	Con -is-pee
Cornabus	N	corn farm	Corn -a-bus
Coullabus	N	Keill’s farm	Cool -a-bus
Coultoon/Cultoon	A	cave dwelling	Cool- toon
Cragabus	N	a stake town, or crown’s town	Crag -a-bus
Craigens	G	the rocks or crags	Craig -ens
Daill	G	focal point place	Day -ill
Dubh Loch	G	black loch	Doo -log (ch as in Bach)
Duich	G	black meadow	Doo -eech (ch as in Bach)
Dun Chroisprig	G	fort on the hill	Doon  chross -brick
Dun Guaidhre	N/G	Godred’s fort	Doon gu- ar -ee
Dunyvaig	G	fort of the holy harbour	Dun- ee -veg
Eallabus	N	Ali’s or Oli’s homestead	Yall -a-bus
Esknish	A	water meadow, or fenland	Esk- neesh
Finlaggan	G	white hollow, or named after St Finlaggan	Fin- lag -an
Gleann Mor	G	great glen	Glen  more
Glen Machrie	G	the coastal plain	Glen  mach -ree
Glenegedal	G/N	glen oakdale	Glen- egg -a-dale
Gruinart	G	green field	Groo -nyart
Keills/Kiells	G	St Columba’s church	Kee -ills
Kilchiaran	G	St Ciaran’s church, Ciaran of Saighair	Kil-a- chee -ran
Kilchoman	G	St Comman’s church	Kil-a- cho -man
Kildalton	G	church of the fosterling	Kil- doll -tan
Kilennan	G	St Finnen’s church	Kil- en -an
Killinallan	G	church of the green ford	Kil-in- al -ing
Kilmeny	G	church of, possibly, mother of Columba	Kil- men -ee
Kilnaughton	?	dedicated to St Naughlan	Kil- naw -ton
Kilnave	G	head or end of the bridge	Kil- nave
Kintra	G	end of strand	Kin- traw
Lagavulin	G	mill hollow	Lag-a- vool -in
Laggan	G	calf goddess, or hollow of the lochs	Lag -gan
Laphroaig	?N	possibly Lag Froig from Gaelic froig, a cave	La- froi -aig
* Thus, the hollow where the cave is. The name may also be connected to the ancient territorial division of Freag.
Loch Airigh	G	loch of the sheiling	Loch ar -ree
Loch an t-Sailein	G	arm of the sea	Loch an tarl -an
Loch Corr	G	frothy loch, or not crooked, or loch of the excess
Loch Dhomhnuill	G	Donald’s Loch	Loch doll
Loch Drolsay	G	Loch of the trolls	Loch drol -see
Loch Fada	G	long loch	Loch fa -da
Loch Gorm	G	blue loch or green loch	Loch gorr -om
Loch Indaal	G	loch na dala = loch of the divisions, loch of delay	Loch in- dawl
* “In olden days, the ships sailed into Loch Indaal for shelter from the storm, or in a flat calm to wait for the wind, or just for stores. They may sometimes have been delayed there for days or weeks.” (Margaret MacIndeor)
Loch Leathann	G	broad loch	Loch nan ban
Loch Skerrols	N	loch of the scored hill seat	Loch ske -rols
Lyrabus	N	muddy farm	Lir -a-bus
Machir (bay)	G	grass	Mach -ir
* More fully: “Sandy plains closely covered with short grass, thickly studded with herbs of fragrant odours and plants of lovely colours.” ( Margaret MacIndeor )
Mulreesh	G	exposed hill slope	Mool- reesh
Nave (island)	N	holy island, or consecrated island	as spelt
Octofad	G	long eighth farm, or locally knows as long brae	Oct-o- fad
*= The octave was an ancient land measure, being one eighth of a davoch, which was equal to 20 pennylands.
Octomore	G	big eighth farm, or locally known as big brae	Oct-o- more
Octovulin	G	mill, eighth farm, or mill brae	Oct-o- vool -in
Orsay	N	Oran’s steading	Or -say
Persabus	N	priest’s farm	Per -sa-bus
Port Askaig	G/N	port/harbour, or ash tree harbour	Port  Ass -kaig
Port Charlotte	named after Frederick Campbell’s mother	Port Shar -lot
Port Ellen	short for Ellinor, Frederick Campbell’s wife
Port Wemyss	river mouth	Port Weems
Portnahaven	G	bay, or harbour of the river	Port-na- hav -van
Proaig	G	broad bay	Pro -aig
Rhinns/Rinns	G	promontory	Rins
Rhubha Bhoraraic	G	promontory of the bay	Roo vor -ar-rick
Risabus	N	brushwood farm	Rize -a-bus
Rubh’a’Mhail	G	rough promontory	Roo-a- val
Saligo	G	seal bay	Sal -ly-go
Sanaigmore	G	great sand harbour	San-ig- more
Scarrabus	N	rocky ridge farm	Sca -ra-bus
Tallant	N	high land or rocky ridge	Tal -ant
Tayovullin	G	mill house	Tay-a- vool -in
Uiskentuie	G	water of the resting place	Oosh-ken- too -ee