Portnellan

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Portnellan ruins

Portnellan , also Portnallan or Portaneilean , is a derelict town in the northeast of the Scottish Hebridean island of Islay . Portnellan was at the northeast head of Loch Finlaggan about 3.5 kilometers west of Port Askaig and twelve kilometers northeast of Bowmore , the island's capital. The closest localities were the now abandoned settlements Mulreesh in the east and Shinghart in the southwest. Portnellan was the end point of a path that branches off at Keills from today's A846 , the course of which roughly corresponds to one of the main routes on the island of that time, and led via Mulreesh. At the census of 1841 there were 141 people living in Portnellan. Ten years later the population had fallen slightly to 132 people. Today there is an inhabited building and the visitor center for the ruins of Finlaggan Castle on the Portnellan area , but the village no longer exists.

history

From Finlaggan Castle, located south on an island in Loch Finlaggan, the MacDonald clan ruled the islands of the Hebrides and parts of the Highlands as Lords of the Isles until the end of the 15th century . Portnellan was built as a housing estate for the castle staff. The place name, which is derived from Port to eilean , which means port of the island and marks the place of the boat landing stage for crossing to the island of Eilean Mor , on which the castle complex was located, reminds of this . After the collapse of the MacDonald Empire, the buildings were used for agriculture. There is an 11 x 6 m area in the village that was once used as a cemetery, probably for Finlaggan Castle staff. Gravestones can no longer be seen there today. As in many places in Northeast Island, Portnellan has also produced lead . The remains of various shafts can still be found in the area.

Surroundings

Standing stone in Portnellan

One of the oldest finds in the Portnellan area is a cairn . This has a four meter long and 50–70 cm wide chamber in which Bronze Age arrowheads were found. The grave was looted probably later, after which the presence of peaty clods and the discovery of a Iron Age indicate artifact. In the course of the excavations, hundreds of arrowheads were discovered in the area, which could be the former grave goods. Two menhirs can be found in the vicinity of Portnellan . The stone, located directly in Portnellan, rises 2 m from a base area of ​​1.40 m × 0.70 m. This stone may have been part of a larger megalithic complex. The second stone to the east lies flat on the ground today and would have had a height of 1.80 m if it had stood upright.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Scotland Census 1841
  2. ↑ Scotland Census 1851
  3. ↑ Entry on Loch Finlaggan  in Canmore, the database of Historic Environment Scotland (English)
  4. ↑ Entry on Finlaggan  in Canmore, the database of Historic Environment Scotland (English)
  5. ↑ Entry on Portnealon Mine  in Canmore, the database of Historic Environment Scotland (English)
  6. ↑ Entry on Finlaggan  in Canmore, the database of Historic Environment Scotland (English)
  7. ↑ Entry on Finlaggan  in Canmore, the database of Historic Environment Scotland (English)
  8. ↑ Entry on Finlaggan  in Canmore, the database of Historic Environment Scotland (English)

Coordinates: 55 ° 50 ′ 27 "  N , 6 ° 9 ′ 52"  W.