“A roofless medieval chapel and an oddly weathered ancient cross stand right on Loch Gruinart's shore — one of Islay's most atmospheric, least-visited historic sites, and in winter you'll likely share it with thousands of wild geese.”
A ruined 14th-century chapel and an unusually thin, weathered Celtic cross on the shore of Loch Gruinart — one of Islay's most atmospheric, least-visited historic sites.
- A strikingly thin, weathered cross dated to somewhere between the 5th and 8th centuries
- Ruined 14th-century chapel on Loch Gruinart's shore
- One of Islay's least-visited historic sites
- Easily combined with a visit to RSPB Loch Gruinart
The chapel is thought to date from the late 14th or early 15th century — Historic Environment Scotland's own record only commits to 'late medieval' — a simple roofless rectangle still standing almost intact on Loch Gruinart's shore. Its cross is older and harder to pin down still, carved from thin, greenish slate on one face only, with spiral and interlace patterns, and dated by different sources anywhere between the 5th and 8th centuries. Centuries in the open air have chipped and broken its edges, with pieces missing from two of its arms, but the carved face has survived remarkably well.
On 5 August 1598, the chapel found itself at the edge of one of Islay's bloodiest clan battles, fought on the sands of Loch Gruinart between Clan Donald and Clan Maclean over rival claims to the island. Sir James MacDonald's smaller force won a decisive victory over Sir Lachlan Mor Maclean's larger one, using the hillside and the sun to their advantage; Maclean himself was killed, and as local legend tells it, shot through the neck by an archer while he stopped to drink from a well. Local tradition holds that around thirty defeated Macleans then fled to the chapel for sanctuary, only for MacDonald's men to bar the doors and set the roof alight, killing all but one. It's a story passed down through island families rather than recorded by any contemporary account — Historic Environment Scotland's own record notes it isn't mentioned in early descriptions of the battle — but it's stuck to the chapel's name for over 400 years regardless.
Between October and March, Loch Gruinart is one of the main wintering grounds for Islay's barnacle geese — in NatureScot's 2020 census, the island held 45% of the entire Britain-and-Ireland wintering population, around 33,000 birds. White-tailed eagles hunt the geese flocks through winter; hen harriers, otters and corncrakes are more likely in the warmer months.