Vist Islay Jura

Places To Visit

Bowmore, Isle of Islay PA43 7LD
Website: www.theceltichouse.co.ukT: 01496 810 304

The Celtic House is a family business first established in 1959, situated in the main village of Bowmore on the island of Islay. Drawing on the culture of the Island of Islay, the shop specialises in books on Scottish history and culture, Scottish designer Jewellery, Knitwear, Glassware, Tableware and Ceramics.

The Celtic House is the place to find that unique and imaginative gift.

Denise Rozga home made on Jura      Jura

Ghillies Cottage, Tarbert, Isle of Jura, PA60 7XH
Email: deniserozga@yahoo.co.ukT: 01496820287 or 820053

I do all my baking at home in the family kitchen using organic ingredients. Breads that I bake are white, brown, granay wholemeal and reduced salt brown. Rolls from all the above and also some special breads like Baguettes, Brioche, spiced fruit buns and a kind of pumpernickel.
Not to forget the Hot cross buns for Easter.
Please phone for further details.
Lovely fresh delicious homemade bread could await you in your holiday home upon arrival.

Islay Studios Gallery     Islay

4 Islay House Square, Bridgend, Isle of Islay PA44 7NZ
Website: www.islaystudios.co.ukT: 01496 810010

Visit our new gallery whilst you are staying on Islay.
Showcasing the best in Islay photography by Mark Unsworth and art by some of the best on the West Coast such as JoLoMo, Pam Carter, Ian Gray and Justin Ruthven-Tyers.
Gift ideas also, all with a local theme and 99% produced on the island, our 2011 Islay calendar will be available soon.
Full picture framing, digital printing and presentation service as well.
Come and find us in Islay House Square, Bridgend or click on our website.

c/o Alistair Hutchison, Chairman,

15 Elder Crescent,  Bowmore, Islay PA43 7HU
Email: sec.islayhousecommunitygarden@hotmail.co.uk

T: 01496 810583

An Islay community initiative at Bridgend, with Registered Charity status, to promote healthier living and horticultural education in a sheltered 4.5 acre walled garden recovered from neglect in 2005.
A tourist attraction in itself, whilst under progressive development, linked to the Islay Community Access Path network, via the car park on the Port Askaig road from Bridgend.
The Garden is also accessible through the Arch at Islay House Square, with restricted disabled access via Islay House drive, from the Port Charlotte road.
Open ground and tunnel vegetable produce, including early potatoes, plus a range of soft fruit is available seasonally for sale, together with some flowers, herbs and salad leaves.
Sales table, Honesty Box, Dawn to Dusk, Donations, Volunteers welcome.

Dunlossit Estate, Knocklearach Farm,Ballygrant

Isle of Islay, PA45 7QL

Tel: 01496 840232 Fax: 01496 840694

e-mail: office@dunlossitestate.co.uk

 Pork, beef, lamb and venison all born and raised on Islay. Bacon and black pudding made using traditional recipes.  Bread and cakes, fresh vegetables, home-made chutneys and jams all from local producers.  Where else could you find all this under the one roof but at the Knocklearach Market Hall in Ballygrant?

 The Market Hall and Campbell Butchers in Port Ellen are the only places where The Dunlossit Pie selection can be found.  Delicious and hand-made by our chef François Bernier with real Islay meat, Steak, Mutton, Steak and Black Pudding, and when in season, we have venison and wild game pies too

 Pay us a visit every Friday at Knocklearach Farmhouse from 11:00am to 4:00pm!

Full-time course – Degree in Gaelic Language and Culture
The new Gaelic Immersion course, Uplan
Summer courses – Gaelic, music, Gaelic song and others
Night classes/learning days – Gaelic and music
Seanchas Ile – Islay Folklore Project
Art Exhibitions
Gaelic tearooms in summer
Wedding venue

GARTNATRA
BOGH MOR
EILEAN ILE
PA43 7LN

Tel: +44(0)1496 810818
Website: www.ile.ac.uk

Finlaggan Trust      Islay

Finlaggan Information Centre, Finlaggan, Ballygrant, Isle of Islay PA45 7QR

Website: www.finlaggan.com       Tel: 01496 840644 (opening hours only)

At the Finlaggan Information Centre you’ll discover a time in Scottish history when Loch Finlaggan was at the heart of the power of the Lords of the Isles, rivals to the Kings of Scotland. Take the short walk to the islands, accessed by a bridge, or view them from a comfortable glassed area in the Centre.

Finlaggan is a truly romantic setting for weddings, and licensed for civil ceremonies. Enquiries to fionnlagan@gmail.com or write to The Chairman at the Information Centre

Opens Easter Friday, 2 April 2010
Location: Left turn about 1 mile north of Ballygrant, then 1st left

Opening times: Mon – to Sat 10.30am – 4.30 pm and Sunday 1.30 pm – 4.30 pm

Admission charges: Adults £3.00, Concessions £2.00, Children £1.00

Built in 1767, the church is said to be round so as not to provide a hiding place for the devil. It is one of only two round churches in Scotland. Services are held on Sunday Mornings (check the Ileach for times) and is generally open to visitors throughout the week. Donations for the upkeep of this historic building are always welcome.

Website: www.theroundchurch.org.uk

Islay Ales Company Limited      Islay

The Brewery, Islay House Square, Bridgend T:01496 810014
Website: www.islayales.com

The award-winning Islay Ales Company has been brewing a range of cask and bottle-conditioned ales in Islay House Square since 2004. Come and learn more about the process of brewing by taking one of our free tours, culminating in a wee taster of our flagship ales in the relaxing surrounds of our visitor centre, bar and well stocked shop.

To find the Brewery, take the A846 (Port Askaig road) out of Bridgends and after 500 yards you will see a green Islay House Square sign on the right hand side. Turn left immediately opposite this sign. Drive past the car park on the left into the Square. The Brewery is located at the back left hand side of the Square.

Loch Gruinart Reserve covers 1700 hectares (ha) and includes a working farm which is situated on the flats. Aoradh Farm is the biggest in-hand farming operation on a nature reserve anywhere in the UK. Roughly a third of the Reserve comprises farm land for grazing or for silage or arable crop production. The rest consists of approximately 250ha of mudflats and saltmarsh and 980ha of heather moorland.

There is a Visitor Centre, which is open all year round, from which you can see across the flats, use the telescopes to find the vast array of birds, deer and other wildlife.

Weekly guided walks take place on Thursdays at 10.00 leaving from the Visitor Centre. Please note that booking is required for the walk from November to March.

During the summer months there are a range of walks and activities at other times. Please contact the Reserve for details. 
Tel: +44 (0)1496 850505
e-mail: loch.gruinart@rspb.org.uk 

The rare chough breeds along the spectacular coastline, as do peregrine, raven and hundreds of seabirds.

It is an excellent place to see golden eagles and many other birds of prey.

The reserve facilities, consisting of a car park and way marked trail, are open at all times. Free admission.

Guided walks are held during the summer. Please contact the Reserve for details.

Tel: +44 (0)1496 300118
e-mail: the.oa@rspb.org.uk

Near to Kilchoman Chapel at Machir Bay on Islay’s Atlantic coast.

This War Memorial is maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.  

High on the Oa at Upper Killeyan and overlooking the sea in which 266 Americans died when the HMS Tuscania was torpedoed on February 5 1918.

The monument is shaped like a lighthouse and was built by the Government of The United States on the 400ft cliffs, seven miles from where the ship went down.

It is reachable by a signed footpath from the car parking at Upper Killeyan.

A very successful, award winning Museum housed in the former Free Church at the entrance to Port Charlotte village.

Huge library of photgraphs and historical artefacts from Islay’s past life as well as regularly changing exhibits.

The church vestry houses both the extensive library and most of the archaeological material. A gallery has been constructed at one end to act as an office and store.

Well worth a visit.

Port Charlotte  Isle of Islay, PA48 7TX

Website: www.islaynaturalhistory.org       Tel: 01496 850288

The Natural History Visitor Centre, in Port Charlotte, is open from Easter to the end of October. The opening hours are Mon-Fri 10am-4pm and Saturdays in June-August 10am-4pm. Tickets are valid for a whole week.
The Centre contains exhibits and information relating to the island’s geology, flora and fauna and has an extensive reference library. A computer database of natural history records is available for browsing. The laboratory houses marine and freshwater tanks as well as numerous hands-on activities for all the family. Outdoor activity sessions for families are held twice weekly in July and August.
Monthly film or slideshows are held throughout the year given by local and visiting naturalists.

An old ruined chapel within Kilchiaran Bay, roofless but much of the stonework has been restored to make the building safe.

Sited opposite Kilchiaran Farm on the road to Portnahaven

Only two stones of this pre-Christian stone circle on the Atlantic coast of the Rhinns were ever placed in an upright position, though all the stones and the ’slots’ for each stone are still in evidence.

The circle was apparently abandoned in a hurry and nobody knows why. Ground’s a bit boggy so make sure you wear suitable footwear. Situated to left of the road between Cultoon Farm and Kelsay Farm.

midway between Kilchiarin and Portnahaven

Email: anne@tormisdale.fsnet.co.uk      Tel: 01496 860239

Rural craft shop on the Atlantic coast, midway between Kilchiarin and Portnahaven.
Handspun wools and hand knitted garments, Sticks & Staghorn items, Patchwork, Paintings, Knitting Yarns & pattern books, Jewellry, Birdboxes & much more, it’s well worth a trip out.

Open 9am-6pm daily.

Very apparent from the road leading to Portnahaven and can be clearly seen from the villages of Port Wemyss and Portnahaven.

In keeping with the majority of UK lighthouses, Orsay is fully automated.

Iron Age fort overlooking the Laggan river and the Glen Road at Mulindry and Cluanach. A very large structure now completely overgrown with grass and generally grazed by sheep.

Since the fort is on land belonging to Neriby Farm, please close all gates behind you and keep away during lambing season. If in doubt, contact Neriby Farm.

A beautiful sandy beach reachable from the footpath to Carraig Fhada (the square lighthouse visible at the entrance to Port Ellen ferry terminal) – the lighthouse was erected in 1832 by John Frederick Campbell in memory of Lady Ellinor Campbell.

The lighthouse was taken over by the Northern Lighthouse Board as an unmanned light in 1924 and converted to propane gas operation in 1963.

Prominent ruin guarding the entrance to Lagavulin Bay and occupied by the Lords of the Isles during their tenure of Finlaggan.

Owners of Lagavulin distillery, Diageo, spent a good deal of money stabilising the ruined structure to prevent it falling into the sea.

The cross is reckoned to be the finest surviving example of a Celtic high cross in the world, set in the grounds of the ruined Kildalton Chapel.

The cross is rumoured to have been carved by monks from Iona off the coast of Mull, during the time of St Columba.

Sited on the road past Ardbeg distillery. Signposted.