View source for Garvellachs

{{Short description|Small archipelago in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

{{Infobox settlement
| name                            = 
| official_name                   = The Garvellachs
| image_map                       = Garvellachs off Oban, Argyllshire.svg
| mapsize                         = 250px
| map_caption                     = The Garvellachs in relation to mainland [[Argyll]], Scotland
| other_name                      = Isles of the Sea
| native_name                     = Na Garbh Eileacha
| native_name_lang                = gd
| coordinates                     = {{Coord|56|14|N|5|47|W|region:GB_type:isle}}
| subdivision_type                = Country
| subdivision_name                = Scotland

|image_skyline                    = Beehive cell, Eileach nan Naoimh, Garvellachs - geograph.org.uk - 243191.jpg
|imagesize                        = 
|image_alt                        = A rocky island with a small circular structure on it. In the middle distance there lies a yacht in blue water with  another rocky isle beyond and a high shoreline in the distance.
|image_caption                    = A [[Beehive house|beehive hut]] on [[Eileach an Naoimh]] with [[Scarba]] in the distance 
| settlement_type                 = [[Archipelago]]
| area_magnitude                  = 
| area_footnotes                  = 
| unit_pref                       = Metric
| area_total_ha                   = 230

| timezone                        = [[GMT]]

}}
The '''Garvellachs''' ([[Scottish Gaelic]]: ''Na Garbh Eileacha'') or '''Isles of the Sea''' form a small [[archipelago]] in the [[Inner Hebrides]] of [[Scotland]]. The islands include [[Garbh Eileach]], [[Dùn Chonnuill]] and [[Eileach an Naoimh]].<ref>[https://www.scottish-places.info/features/featurefirst1525.html "Garvellachs (Isles of the Sea)"]. Gazetteer for Scotland. Retrieved 17 August 2024.</ref> Part of the [[Argyll and Bute]] [[council area]], they lie in [[Firth of Lorne]] west of [[Lunga, Firth of Lorn|Lunga]] and northwest of [[Scarba]] and have been uninhabited since the 19th century.{{sfn|Haswell-Smith|2004| pp= 67,75}}{{efn|There is a stone [[bothy]] on Garbh Eileach for "occasional use" but not permanent inhabitation.{{sfn|Haswell-Smith|2004|pp=75-76}} The island was populated in the late 17th century but was likely abandoned in the late 19th.<ref name=CanmoreGE>{{Canmore|num=22376|desc=Garvellachs, Garbh Eileach|access-date=17 August 2024}}</ref>}} 

The islands are known for their early Christian connections to [[Brendan the Navigator]] and [[Columba]] and for their bedrock containing rare formations in relation to the [[Snowball Earth|global Sturtian glaciation]]. 

==Overview==
[[File:Scarba Lunga and the Garvellachs NSA.png|thumb|[[Scarba, Lunga and the Garvellachs National Scenic Area]]]]
The waters surrounding the islands are extensively used for leisure sailing.  Due to the array of separate tidal races produced by the underwater [[Topographical|topography]] there are some treacherous stretches of water.  These include the Grey Dog between Scarba and Lunga and the [[Gulf of Corryvreckan]], between [[Scarba]] and [[Jura, Scotland|Jura]],{{sfn|Haswell-Smith|2004| pp=61-62}} in which is located the infamous Corryvreckan whirlpool, which is the third-largest [[whirlpool]] in the world.<ref>[https://www.scottish-places.info/features/featurefirst10418.html "Corryvreckan Whirlpool"]. Gazetteer for Scotland. Retrieved 17 August 2024.</ref>

The area is part of the [[Scarba, Lunga and the Garvellachs National Scenic Area]], one of [[National Scenic Area (Scotland)|40 such areas]] in Scotland, which are defined so as to identify areas of exceptional scenery and to ensure its protection by restricting certain forms of development.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nature.scot/professional-advice/safeguarding-protected-areas-and-species/protected-areas/national-designations/national-scenic-areas/|title=National Scenic Areas|publisher=Scottish Natural Heritage|accessdate=2018-05-24}}</ref> The Scottish [[plant collector]], [[Clara Winsome Muirhead]] surveyed the plant life of the islands and published ''The Flora of  [[Easdale]] and the Garvellachs'' in 1962.

Garbh Eileach is the largest island in the group and extends to {{cvt|142|ha|0|abbr=on}} and reaches a maximum elevation of {{cvt|110|m|0|abbr=on}} above sea level.{{sfn|Haswell-Smith|2004|p=75}} The area of Eileach an Naoimh is {{convert|56|ha|acre|0|abbr=on}} and the maximum height {{cvt|80|m|0|abbr=on}}.{{sfn|Haswell-Smith|2004|p=67}} [[A' Chùli]] lies between the two and is {{convert|20|ha|acre|0|abbr=on}} in extent<ref>[http://www.argyll-yachtcharters.co.uk/Scottish%20Islands.pdf Rick Livingstone’s Tables of the Islands of Scotland] (pdf) Argyll Yacht Charters. Retrieved 12 Dec 2011.</ref> with Dùn Chonnuill, the northernmost isle, being roughly half this size.{{sfn|Ordnance Survey}}

==Etymology==
{{lang|gd|Na Garbh Eileacha}} is [[Scottish Gaelic|Gaelic]] for "the rough rocks"{{sfn|Mac an Tàilleir|2003|p=53}} with the Anglicised version of the name giving rise to the archipelago's name of the Garvellachs. Garbh Eileach itself then means the "rough rock" or "rough rocky mound".{{sfn|Haswell-Smith|2004|p=75}} Eileach an Naoimh is from {{lang|gd|na h-Eileacha Naomha}} and means either "the rocky place of the saint"{{sfn|Haswell-Smith|2004|p=67}} or "the holy rocks".{{sfn|Watson|1926|p=81}} A’ Chùli is from {{lang|gd| Cùil Bhrianainn}} meaning "Brendan's retreat"{{sfn|Watson|1926|pp=81-82}} and Dùn Chonnuill means "Conal's castle" and may be named after an [[Ulster]] chieftain of the first century CE.{{sfn|Haswell-Smith|2004|p=75}}

==Geology==
[[File:Eileach an Naoimh.png|thumb|[[Eileach an Naoimh]]]]
The geology of the Garvellachs consists entirely of rocks of the [[Neoproterozoic]] [[Dalradian Supergroup]] apart from several basaltic [[Dike (geology)|dykes]] of [[Palaeogene]] age, associated with the nearby [[Geology of the Isle of Mull|Mull Igneous Centre]]. The Dalradian rocks come from the uppermost part of the Appin Group and the lowermost part of the Argyll Group. The oldest preserved strata are exposed on the north of Garbh Eileach, a ~70 m thick sequence of carbonates, the [[Garbh Eileach Formation]]. The boundary between this and the overlying [[Port Askaig Tillite Formation]] is [[unconformity|conformable]]. The Port Askaig Tillites are a sequence of [[sedimentary rock]]s that record a series of glacial, interglacial and periglacial episodes. This formation reaches it thickest development of 1,100 m in the area of Islay and the Garvellachs, thinning rapidly away from this region. The formation has been subdivided into five members, the lowest three of which are exceptionally well exposed on the Garvellachs. The sequence contains 48 [[diamictite]] beds, while 35–40 % of the formation is formed of sandstone of non-glacial origin, deposited in a deltaic to shallow marine [[sedimentary environment]], interbedded with minor amounts of siltstones and [[dolomite (rock)|dolomites]].<ref name=Rugen2024>{{cite journal |first1=E.J. |last1=Rugen |first2=G. |last2=Pastore |first3=P. |last3=Vermeesch |first4=A.M. |last4=Spencer |first5=D. |last5=Webster |first6=A.G.G. |last6=Smith |first7=A. |last7=Carter |first8=G.A. |last8=Shields |title=Glacially influenced provenance and Sturtian affinity revealed by detrital zircon U–Pb ages from sandstones in the Port Askaig Formation, Dalradian Supergroup |date=2024 |journal=Journal of the Geological Society |page=jgs2024-029 |volume=181 |issue=5 |doi=10.1144/jgs2024-029 |url=https://www.lyellcollection.org/doi/abs/10.1144/jgs2024-029 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

There are two candidates within the [[Cryogenian]] period for the glacial interval represented by the Port Askaig Tillites, the older [[Sturtian glaciation]] (~717–660 million years ago} and the younger [[Marinoan glaciation]] (<654–632 million years ago), both of which are regarded as examples of a [[Snowball Earth]], where [[ice sheet]]s extended to very low latitudes. Dating of the Port Askaig Tillites has been attempted using a wide variety of techniques, but these have produced contradictory results, with evidence found that supports both of the options. Samples from the sandstones (those from the Garbh Eileach Formation and three lower members of the Port Askaig Tillite were all taken from the Garvellachs) have been analysed using [[detrital zircon geochronology]] and the results provide the strongest support for the sequence being Sturtian, with "youngest single grains" throughout being consistent with the likely depositional ages.<ref name=Rugen2024/>

The detrital zircon study suggests that the archipelago "may be the only place on Earth to have a detailed record of how the Earth entered one of the most catastrophic periods in its history."<ref>{{cite web|author-last1=Ghosh|author-first1=Pallab|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cj9l2mrn43jo|date=16 August 2024|title=Scottish isles may solve mystery of 'Snowball Earth'|publisher=BBC|access-date=17 August 2024}}</ref>
This research also found that the sandstones of the Port Askaig Tillite were sourced from [[Laurentia]], rocks with ages ranging from {{circa}} 3700 to 660 Ma.<ref name=Rugen2024/>

==History==
[[File:Croft House ruin on Garbh Eileach - geograph.org.uk - 1410606.jpg|thumb|Ruins of late 18th or 19th century house on Garbh Eileach<ref name=CanmoreGE/>]]
At least three of the four main islands of the Garvellachs were inhabited in the distant past. There is a ruined castle on the top of Dùn Chonnuill that may have been built by the [[Maclean of Duart|Macleans of Duart]] in the early fifteenth century after the island was received by them as a gift from [[Robert III of Scotland|King Robert III]]. The fort consists of walling up to 2.0m high and generally of a similar width. The remains of ten buildings have been identified.{{sfn|Haswell-Smith|2004|pp=75-76}}<ref>{{Canmore|num=22374|desc=Garvellachs, Dun Chonaill|access-date=17 August 2024}}</ref> Brendan is said to have been buried on A’ Chùli{{sfn|Haswell-Smith|2004|p=67}} although no trace of his chapel there remains<ref>{{Canmore|num=22375|desc=Garvellachs, Culbrandan, A' Chuli|access-date=17 August 2024}}</ref> and a similar fate appears to have befallen two unroofed buildings, thought to be [[shieling]]s, recorded in 1881 by the Ordnance Survey.<ref>{{Canmore|num=22378|desc=Garvellachs, A' Chuli|access-date=17 August 2024}}</ref>

There is a small anchorage and landing place on Garbh Eileach where there are the remains of a burial ground and of a [[Dun (fortification)|fort]] that measures about 14m by 11m.{{sfn|Haswell-Smith|2004|pp=75-76}}<ref>{{Canmore|num=22373|desc=Garvellachs, Garbh Eileach, Rubha Mor|access-date=17 August 2024}}</ref> About {{cvt|650|m}} northeast of this dun there are the ruins of a house and [[byre]] with a corn-drying [[kiln]] a short distance away, probably erected in the late 18th or 19th century. The island had a population of thirty-two adults in the late 17th century but only four houses were occupied  by 1861, and from then on it is likely that only the shepherd's cottage near the landing-place remained in use.<ref name=CanmoreGE/>

However, the most significant evidence of previous occupation is found on Eileach an Naoimh. About 542, [[Brendan the Navigator]] founded a [[monastery]] on ''Ailach'', some years before [[Columba]] came to [[Iona]].{{sfn|Watson|1926|p=81}}{{sfn|Haswell-Smith|2004|p=67}} The ruins of the monastic buildings include two chapels, [[beehive hut]]s, and a graveyard with three crosses and another circular grave. These ruins are amongst the best-preserved early Christian monasteries in Scotland and the site is in the care of [[Historic Environment Scotland]].<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.historicenvironment.scot/visit-a-place/places/eileach-an-naoimh/| title=Eileach an Naoimh| publisher=Historic Environment Scotland| access-date=15 Jan 2021}}</ref> 

[[Columba]] is also believed to have visited the island and it is one of the proposed locations of the Columban retreat isle of [[Hinba]]. Eileach an Naoimh may be the burial site of Columba's mother Eithne.{{sfn|Pallister|2005|pp= 120, 133}}{{sfn|Marsden|1995|p=110}}<ref>{{Canmore|num=22364|desc=Garvellachs, Eileach An Naoimh|access-date=17 August 2024}}</ref> The monastery was destroyed by [[Viking]] raiders who were present in the area from about 800.{{sfn|Haswell-Smith|2004|p=67}} Although there was a small permanent population in the 1700s the island's intermittent occupation since the [[Scandinavian Scotland|Norse settlement of Scotland]] has likely contributed to the survival of the structures.{{sfn|Pallister|2005|pp=133-34}}<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.historicenvironment.scot/visit-a-place/places/eileach-an-naoimh/history/| title=Eileach an Naoimh: History| publisher=Historic Environment Scotland| access-date=18 August 2024}}</ref>

A lease dated 1817 granted grazing for 60 cattle and 240 sheep on the archipelago as a whole.<ref name=CanmoreGE/>

==Natural history==
The outcrops of [[limestone]] on Eileach an Naoimh give rise to fertile soils and the slope of the land makes for "verdant" south-facing hillsides. A wide variety of flowering plants are found there including [[Primula vulgaris|primrose]], [[Iris pseudacorus|yellow flag]], [[Filipendula ulmaria|meadowsweet]] and [[Lonicera periclymenum|honeysuckle]].{{sfn|Haswell-Smith|2004|p=67}} There are scattered [[Betula pendula|birchwoods]] and a small herd of [[Cervus elaphus|red deer]] on Garbh Eileach.{{sfn|Haswell-Smith|2004|p=75}}

==Gallery==
<gallery widths=200>
File:The monastery chapel, Eilach an Naoimh.jpg|The monastery chapel, Eilach an Naoimh
File:Dùn Chonnuill from Garbh Eileach - geograph.org.uk - 4487285.jpg|Dùn Chonnuill from Garbh Eileach
File:Ordnance Survey One-Inch Sheet 60 North Jura and Firth of Lorne, Published 1925.jpg|1925 [[Ordnance Survey]] map with The Garvellachs at centre 
File:Building on Garbh Eileach - geograph.org.uk - 3567023.jpg|[[Bothy]] on Garbh Eileach
File:Garbh Eileach - geograph.org.uk - 406843.jpg|A' Chùli from Garbh Eileach
</gallery>

==See also==
{{Portal|Scottish islands}}
* [[List of islands of Scotland]]

==References==
;Notes
{{notelist}}

;Citations
{{reflist}}

;Bibliography
{{sfn whitelist|CITEREFOrdnance_Survey}}
* {{Haswell-Smith}}
* {{cite book|author-last=Marsden|author-first=John|year=1995|title=The Illustrated Life of Columba|location=Edinburgh|publisher=Floris Books}}
* {{Cite web|last=Mac an Tàilleir|first=Iain |year=2003|url= http://www.parliament.scot/gd/visitandlearn/40900.aspx|title= Ainmean-àite/Placenames|publisher= [[Scottish Parliament|Pàrlamaid na h-Alba]]|access-date=26 August 2012}}
* {{Ordnance Survey}}
* {{cite book|author-last=Pallister|author-first=Marian |year=2005|title=Lost Argyll: Argyll's Lost Heritage|location=Edinburgh|publisher=Birlinn}}
* {{cite book|title=The History of the Celtic Place-Names of Scotland|last=Watson|first=William J.|author-link=William J. Watson|location=Edinburgh and London|publisher=William Blackwood and Sons|date=1926|edition=2005 reprint by Birlinn}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Garvellachs}}

{{Garvellachs}}
{{NSAs in Scotland}}
{{ Argyll Islands}}
{{Islands of Scotland}}
{{Coord|56|14|N|5|47|W|region:GB_type:isle|display=title}}

[[Category:Uninhabited islands of Argyll and Bute]]
[[Category:National scenic areas of Scotland]]
[[Category:Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Islay and Jura]]
[[Category:Protected areas of Argyll and Bute]]
[[Category:Archipelagoes of Scotland]]
[[Category:Sturtian glaciation]]