Old tunes, pictures and film by Ionad Chaluim Chille Ìle – Islay Gaelic Centre

Islay on Video

Some Islay history from the YouTube channel of the Ionad Chaluim Chille Ìle – Islay Gaelic Centre today. Some old Gaelic tunes sung by a variety of people from Islay, combined with pictures and film footage from around the time the recordings were made, during a Ceilidh in Bowmore in 1967. I hope you enjoy them:

Islay Ceilidh 1967 – Marion MacArthur
Islay Ceilidh 1967 – Lily MacLean
Islay Ceilidh 1967 – Robert Forrest
Islay Ceilidh 1967 – Cam Shaw
Islay Ceilidh 1967 – Tom and Cath Crawford

The original recordings were loaned to Gaelic Centre by Etta Shaw, the Gaelic Centre then digitised them and added the pictures and film footage from the time. Great work by everyone involved!

Interesting Scottish American history video (with Islay featuring heavily)

Islay on Video

Regular visitors to Islay will mostly be familiar with the American Monument on the Oa and the history behind it with the Tuscania and Otranto shipwrecks in WWI. Still, history tour guide Bruce Fummey has created an interesting video about the history and the links between Scotland and the USA, well worth watching:

A Scottish American Disaster

I hope you found the video interesting and informative, especially if you’re new to this part of Islay’s history.

Nice Finlaggan and Lords of the Isles Islay video

Islay on Video

Something a bit different today, not just a video with some beautiful views of Islay, but some background on what we’re seeing. Kate Gordon and Nigel Scott take us to Finlaggan and tell us about the history of the Lords of the Isles:

Finlaggan and The Lords of the Isles

Nigel had contacted me a month ago about using one of my pictures for a video he was editing about Finlaggan. As it was for a non-commercial educational project I was happy to give him permission. While I was away on Islay for my second visit this year (more about that in another post) he sent me an update with the link to the video. Now that I’m back and had time to catch up with a view things I finally had a chance to watch the video and now share it with you.

I quite like it, I think it’s well made and tells the story very well. Quite a lot of information without getting too long and going into too much detail, just right. Hopefully you like the video as well and found it interesting.

Help fund a new walkway to Finlaggan, Islay

Islay News

The wooden walkway to Eilean Mòr at Finlaggan, the ancient seat of the Lords of the Isles on Islay, has gone through a few iterations over the decades. Because of the harsh conditions at Loch Finlaggan the wood starts to decay and the wear and tear at some point makes the walkway unsafe. Over the years there have been different walkways, this is how it looked in 2006:

Picture of an old wooden walkway to a small island
Finlaggan walkway in 2006

In 2007 it was replaced by a new walkway built by the Army 39 Engineer Regiment after removing the old rotting walkway. Visitors soon enjoyed good access to Eilean Mòr again:

Picture of a group of visitors next to a information board, a new wooden walkway in the background
Visitors after crossing a new walkway in 2007

In 2008 the visitor centre also saw some significant renovation and extension, making it the valuable place to learn about Islay’s history it is today:

Picture of a visitor centre extension under construction
Finlaggan visitor centre under construction in 2008

The walkway built in 2007 has now aged so much that it needs to be replaced to ensure continued access to the site. To do this the Finlaggan Trust needs support. The Finlaggan Trust writes:

We have already secured partial funding from a number of sources and are able to contribute a certain amount ourselves, but there remains a £30,000 shortfall in the £86,000 total nonetheless. If successful in our fundraising we hope to begin work in September/October 2021, with a five- to seven-week timescale for completion of the build, C-19 restrictions and weather conditions permitting.

The Lordship of the Isles needs you – Tha feum aig Rìoghachd nan Eilean ortsa

If you want to support the Finlaggan Trust you can make a donation at The Finlaggan Walkway Project JustGiving campaign. As of writing this in the early days of the campaign 8% of the target have been reached, hopefully that will jump up soon and continued access to Finlaggan can be secured:

Picture of a small island with ruins in a lake, a walkway leading to it
Finlaggan from the air, walkway bottom right

Claig Castle in the Sound of Islay (video)

Islay on Video

Most people who have travelled to/from Islay via Port Askaig will at some point have noticed the ruins on Am Fraoch Eilean on the Jura side at the southern end of the Sound of Islay. This is Claig Castle, once a quite important castle on the west coast of Scotland. Someone from Cine Gate has flown a drone over it for a closer look:

Claig Castle by Cine Gate

It is probably around 500 years old, dating back to medieval times, and once was a Macdonald stronghold. Certainly an excellent position to control the area and any traffic passing through the Sound of Islay!

A mix of Islay links to read

Islay Links

Haven’t blogged here as much recently as I would have liked, so I’m going to try to get better again. Today I thought I’d share a mix of links to articles and other things I found interesting recently. I hope you’ll find something of interest to you as well:

Western Ferries had long gone from the Islay route by the time I first boarded a ferry to Islay, so I don’t have any real memory of them (apart from the pictures and articles about them I’ve seen). This might be changing again at some point, as reports indicate they are interested in (re-)starting a freight only service to Islay.

Digital and that the future is digital is a lot in the news at the moment, good to see that Islay is listed in “£100k funding to inspire Scotland’s next generation of digital experts“. I can’t seem to link directly to it, but scroll down to Port Ellen Primary and click on the + to expand the section on this digitalXtra fund page for more detail about the afterschool robotics club.

Most people are aware of the Otranto and Tuscania sinking off Islay a century ago, more recently during WWII the Floristan sank off the Rhinns of Islay. You can read Tony Cummings memories of the events in 1942.

In The National Andy Gemmell’s pub of the week in late February was the Ballygrant Inn.

And that’s all for today, more some other time. I hope you found something interesting to read this time.

Celebrating a decade of @islayblog on Twitter

Islay Fun

Earlier today a wee blue bird told me (not sure if this qualifies as a bad pun?) it’s 10 years ago today that I joined Twitter, of course using the handle @islayblog (although my name shows as Armin, as I tweet as me, a human being). A decade of squeezing a post into 140 characters (or more recently writing 280 characters). Naturally I sent out a quick tweet, promising a celebratory dram later on:

Now it’s time for said dram, I decided to open a special bottle (also keeping in mind that New Year is approaching rapidly and I need something nice for that): From my Islay shelf I picked a Laphroaig 10yo Cask Strength, batch 004, Jan.12. Here’s the proof:

Picture of a bottle of Laphroaig 10yo CS next to a laptop showing Twitter and Tweetdeck screens
Sometimes don’t drink and blog needs to be ignored, especially when a 10yo Laphroaig cask strength batch 04 is to hand on your 10th Twitter anniversary

A lot has happened in those 10 years. According to Twitter I’ve posted 33,838 tweets so far (probably a few more by the time you read this). Apparently I have just under 3,000 people following me now (I hope not too many of them are bots). Quite a few of you I’ve met personally, others I only know from Twitter (and sometimes other social networks), but we’ve still had many helpful, interesting, funny and more exchanges. Others I don’t really know yet, but I hope we’ll bump into each other one day. I’ve learned quite a few things on Twitter, found out information, had a lot of fun and more. I hope I could give some of that back, give those who follow me or communicate with me something to enjoy, something they found helpful or something that inspired them. Or just something to laugh.

With that I’ll finish for now, time for another dram. And another tweet.

Badlads Diving on Islay: Expedition OTRANTO 100

Islay NewsToday saw a Ceremony to remember sinking of HMS Otranto on Islay at Kilchoman, the disaster happened 100 years ago today. Earlier this year another salute to the victims of the HMS Otranto took place in the water of Machir Bay as the Badlads Diving group visited what remains of the wreck to pay their tribute. Peter was so kind to get in touch to share the link to the video of the event:

A very nice tribute I think, very well done. The group has been visiting Islay for many years, I’ve shared a number of videos by them before.

As it turns out they were on Islay at the same time as me in June, I actually took pictures of them leaving and returning to Kilchiaran Bay, where they had set up base. Unfortunately I hadn’t realised at the time that it was them, otherwise I would have gone over to have a chat. Maybe another time.

20 years Friend of Laphroaig

Islay Whisky News & LinksThis is a post I wanted to write almost a month ago, unfortunately then my leg injury got in the way. Recovery is now well under way (this morning I walked 3 kilometres in I think just over half an hour) and I think I can allow myself a wee dram tonight. With that over to the real topic, one of the many factors which brought me to Islay and made me fall in love with it:

Scan of Armin Grewe's Friends of Laphroaig certificate
My original Friends of Laphroaig certificate from March 1998, a few months before I first set foot on Islay in August 1998

Earlier this year I came across my original Friends of Laphroaig certificate. I bought my first bottle of Laphroaig whisky (the standard 10yo, an expression I still enjoy regularly) in early 1998 and duly sent in my claim for my square foot of Islay. A few weeks later my certificate arrived. Iain Henderson was the distillery manager back then (he retired in 2002), so it is signed by him.

A few months later, on a rather wet August morning, I arrived on Islay for my first visit. The first distillery I visited was of course Laphroaig. There was no visitor centre back then, as far as I can remember I found the way to the reception where someone welcomed me and found a miniature bottle for my annual rent for me.

All of this is now 20 years ago (or will soon be), so with a month delay I’m going to open a bottle of Laphroaig Cairdeas tonight for a wee dram to celebrate being a Friend of Laphroaig for 20 years.

Video of the ruin near Ardilistry Bay, Islay

Islay on VideoA slightly different Islay video today, a walk to one of the most beautiful ruins on Islay. Especially on a bright and sunny day it’s very nice to walk around it, the light under the trees now towering over it (and even growing in and on it) is wonderful. Here’s the short video recorded by a recent visitor:

I’ve got two pictures of it on the photoblog as well:

I hope you like it as well and enjoyed the visit in video and pictures.