The skull is no longer there, but the latest editions of Ordnance Survey maps still mark the location as 'Maclean's Skull Cave'. For many years in the 20th century, a human skull stood on a ledge in a nearby cave, and it was traditionally said to have been the remains of a Maclean who had been killed in this battle. In 1647, this was the site of a notable battle between the Macleans and the Campbells of Craignish. The north of the island, however, was owned by this time by Clan Maclean, whose seat was at Aros Castle in Glengarrisdale. The Lordship came to an end in 1493, but Clan Donald continued to rule the southern part of Jura, through the MacDonalds of Dunnyveg. The Lordship of the Isles was dominated by Clan Donald, whose seat was at Finlaggan on Islay. A key figure during the Norse period was the warlord Somerled, whose descendants, for around 150 years from the mid-14th century, styled themselves Lords of the Isles. From this point, Norse rule continued until 1266, when the Hebrides, together with Kintyre and the Isle of Man, were ceded to Scotland in the Treaty of Perth. The Viking occupation of the Hebrides began in the 9th century, and was formalised when sovereignty was secured in 1098. In the 6th century, it is believed that Jura may have been the location of Hinba, the island to which the Irish founder of the Christian Church in Scotland Saint Columba retreated for prayer and contemplation from the monastic community which he founded on Iona. The modern name "Jura" dates from the Norse-Gael era and is from the Old Norse Dyrøy meaning "beast island". There is evidence of Neolithic settlement at Poll a' Cheo in the southwest of the island. The Jura NSA covers 30,317 hectares (117 sq mi): 21,072 of land and 9,245 of adjacent sea.Įvidence of settlements on Jura dating from the Mesolithic period was first uncovered by the English archaeologist John Mercer in the 1960s. The southern part of the island, from Loch Tarbert southwards, is designated a national scenic area (NSA), one of 40 such areas in Scotland. George Orwell lived on Jura intermittently from 1946 to 1949, and completed his novel Nineteen Eighty-Four while living at a remote farmhouse.īetween Jura's northern tip and the island of Scarba lies the Gulf of Corryvreckan, where a whirlpool makes passage dangerous at certain states of the tide. North of Craighouse are a number of other small settlements on or near the east coast: Keils, Knockrome, Ardfernal, Lagg, Tarbert, Ardlussa (home of Lussa Gin) and Inverlussa. Craighouse also houses the island's shop, church, primary school, the Jura hotel and bar, a gallery, craft shop, tearoom and the community run petrol pumps. The Jura distillery, producing Isle of Jura single malt whisky, is in the village, as is the island's rum distillery which was opened on 2021. The main settlement is the east coast village of Craighouse. The island is mountainous, bare and largely infertile, covered by extensive areas of blanket bog. With an area of 36,692 hectares (142 sq mi), and 196 inhabitants recorded in the 2011 census, Jura is more sparsely populated than Islay, and is one of the least densely populated islands of Scotland: in a list of the islands of Scotland ranked by size, Jura comes eighth, whereas by population it comes 31st. Jura ( JOOR-ə Scottish Gaelic: Diùra Scots: Jura) is an island in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland, adjacent to and northeast of Islay. Quick facts for kidsĬraighouse from the pier with the Paps of Jura in the background
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