Ailsa Craig
| Ailsa Craig | ||
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| Waters | Firth of Clyde | |
| Geographical location | 55 ° 15 '6 " N , 5 ° 7' 6" W | |
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| length | 1.3 km | |
| width | 1.1 km | |
| surface | 99 ha | |
| Highest elevation | The Cairn 338 m |
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| Residents | uninhabited | |
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Ailsa Craig ( Scottish Gaelic : Creag Ealasaid , German "Elizabeth's Rock" ) is an island in the Firth of Clyde belonging to Scotland . It is located about 10 miles west of Girvan town and belongs to the South Ayrshire district . The island is of volcanic origin and rises to a height of 338 meters.
During the Scottish Reformation , Ailsa Craig was a safe haven for Catholics . In 1831 the Earl of Cassilis became the island's first margrave . From the middle of the 19th to the middle of the 20th century, the island was mainly known for its rare granite rock called Ailsite (a Riebeckite ). Ailsite is still used today to make curling stones. The stone was also used in Edinburgh's St. Giles Cathedral .
In the 1970s, the lighthouse was converted to automatic operation. The island is now uninhabited. Many birds nest on it, such as the northern gannet and the alken birds , which were once introduced to decimate rat populations . The island has been on sale for £ 1,500,000 since late 2012 .
The island is also known by other names:
- A 'Chreag
- Aillse Creag
- Creag Alasdair
- Ealasaid a 'Chuain
- Alasan
- Paddy's Milestone
Web links
Sales from Ailsa Craig (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Sold by Ailsa Craig , accessed December 25, 2013
- ↑ Iain Mac Tailleir : Ainmean-Aite. P. 3, Pàrlamaid na h-Alba (English)
- ↑ Hamish Haswell-Smith: The Scottish Islands. Canongate, Edinburgh 2008, ISBN 978-1-84767-277-3 , p. 3.