“Robert Stevenson's 1825 lighthouse rises from Orsay across Portnahaven's harbour — one of Islay's most dramatic coastal views, best seen from the shore since the island itself is off-limits.”
The Rhinns of Islay Lighthouse stands on Orsay, a small island just off Portnahaven at the southern tip of the Rhinns peninsula. Built in 1825 to a design by the engineer Robert Stevenson, its white tower rises 29 metres and has guided ships past this exposed stretch of coast for two centuries. The lighthouse has no public access — it's a working aid to navigation, automated since 1998 — but it's clearly visible from Portnahaven's harbour wall and the surrounding shoreline, particularly striking in low evening light.
Rinn is the Gaelic word for point, though the Rhinns' name is thought to derive from rann, meaning a division — the peninsula was traditionally one of three divisions of Islay. Robert Stevenson experimented with the light's character here, alternating a stationary and revolving beam so ships could tell it apart from other lights along the coast; building it cost between £8,000 and £9,000, with John Gibb of Aberdeen as contractor. For over a century and a half the light was tended by boatmen based on Islay, working in some of the roughest tidal waters on the west coast — storms in 1877-78 damaged or lost several of the attending boats. The light was converted to electric operation in 1978, and the station was fully automated on 31 March 1998, ending permanent staffing on Orsay.