Tiree
Tiree | |
---|---|
Tiree, looking west towards Balephuil Bay | |
Waters | Atlantic Ocean |
Archipelago | Inner Hebrides |
Geographical location | 56 ° 30 ′ N , 6 ° 52 ′ W |
length | 19 km |
width | 5 km |
Highest elevation | Ben Hynish 141 m |
Residents | 653 (2011) |
main place | Scarinish |
Satellite image of Tiree |
Tiree ( Gaelic : Tiriodh [ tʲʰiɾʲəɣ ]) is an island of interior Hebriden in Scotland . It is located west of the Isle of Mull , is about 19 kilometers long and nearly 5 kilometers wide. Due to the Gulf Stream , like the neighboring island of Coll , Tiree has a milder climate than its location on the Scottish west coast would suggest. Coll and Tiree are among the places with the most hours of sunshine in the UK .
The island is rich in prehistoric monuments: cairns , crannogs , cross-slabs , duns , basements , stone circles and menhirs . There are several villages on Tiree with a total of 653 inhabitants (as of 2011). The most important place on the island is Scarinish , near which there is also the ferry port. There are ferry connections to Coll and Oban and the island of Barra . Major branches of the economy are agriculture, fishing and tourism.
The "Ringing Stone" or Clach a 'Choire is a huge boulder that came here from Rum Island during the Ice Age . If it is struck with a stone, it creates metallic tones, which is where the stone got its name from. The oval stone is approximately 1.6 meters high and has 53 prehistoric cup-and-ring markings . The legend says: "Should the ringing stone ever be smashed, Tiree will sink into the sea".
The specialty of the island, however, are the three brochs .
- Dùn Mòr (excavated between 1962 and 1964) is a semi-broch (a D-shaped broch)
- Dun Boraige Mor (meaning Great Castle) is probably also a semi-brochure
- Dùn Mòr a 'Chaolais (the large brochure of Caolas), also a "galleried dun" or semi-brochure.
Individual evidence
literature
- Euan W. MacKie: Dùn Mòr Vaul. To Iron Age Broch on Tiree. University of Glasgow Press, Glasgow 1974, ISBN 0-85261-112-9 .