If you take the road from Port Charlotte towards the west of Islay, over the Rhinns, you'll end up on Islay's remote west coast. Here you can find Kilchiaran Chapel and Bay, the place where St. Columba set foot on Islay in 560AD prior to founding the famous monastery on the Isle of Iona. Although the chapel is ruined it still is in a good state. The chapel overlooks the beautiful Kichiaran bay and just outside the chapel, in the grass, is a cup marked stone. The reasons for creating these cup marked stones are unknown which make them even more fascinating, especially if you consider the time it took the early inhabitants to create them in the first place. Another interesting feature in the area is the fact that Kilchiaran Bay was once a slate quarry, if you take a walk around the bay you can see why. The images below give you an idea of the beauty of this place and I can highly recommend a visit, also from a wildlife point of view. For a virtual tour in the area follow the Google Streetview Link.

Kilchiaran Bay Sign

Kilchiaran Chapel - Continue reading....

Kilchiaran Chapel Cup Marked Stone

Kilchiaran Bay

Kilchiaran Bay Walkers

Kilchiaran Bay Wildlife

Kilchiaran Bay Slate Quarry

Tag: photography wildlife kilchiaran slate chapel