List of islands of Scotland

This is a list of the islands of Scotland, the mainland of which is part of the island of Great Britain. Also included are various other related tables and lists. The definition of an offshore island used in this list is that it is 'land that is surrounded by seawater on a daily basis, but not necessarily at all stages of the tide, excluding human devices such as bridges and causeways'.^[1] Scotland has over 790 offshore islands, most of which are to be found in four main groups: Shetland, Orkney, and the Hebrides, sub-divided into the Inner Hebrides and Outer Hebrides.^[2] There are also clusters of islands in the Firth of Clyde, Firth of Forth, and Solway Firth, and numerous small islands within the many bodies of freshwater in Scotland including Loch Lomond and Loch Maree. Many of these islands are swept by strong tides, and the Corryvreckan tide race between Scarba and Jura is one of the largest whirlpools in the world. Other strong tides are to be found in the Pentland Firth between mainland Scotland and Orkney, and the Grey Dog between Scarba and Lunga.^[2] The geology and geomorphology of the islands is quite varied. Some such as Skye and Mull are mountainous whilst others like Tiree and Sanday are relatively low lying. Many have bedrock made from ancient Archaen Lewisian Gneiss which was originally laid down 3 billion years ago, Shapinsay and other Orkney islands are formed from Old Red Sandstone, which is 400 million years old, and others such as Rùm from more recent Tertiary volcanoes^[3] The largest island is Lewis and Harris which extends to 2,179 square kilometres, and there are a further 200 islands which are greater than 40 hectares in area. Of the remainder, several such as Staffa and the Flannan Isles have achieved considerable notability despite their small size.^[2] Some 97 Scottish islands are populated, of which 92 are offshore islands. Many previously inhabited islands such as Mingulay, Noss and the St Kilda archipelago have been abandoned during the course of the past century and today only 14 islands are populated by over 1,000 people and 45 by over 100. Between 1991 and 2001, the population of the islands fell by 3 per cent overall, although there were 35 islands whose population increased. The total population of all the islands in 2001 was 99,739.^[4] The culture of the islands has been affected by the successive influences of Celtic, Norse and English speaking peoples and this is reflected in names given to the islands. Most of the Hebrides have Scots Gaelic derivations, whilst those of the Northern Isles tend to be derived from the Viking names. A few have Brythonic, Scots and even perhaps pre-Celtic roots.^[2] A feature of modern island life is the low crime rate and they are considered to be amongst the safest places to live in the UK.^[5] Rockall, is a small rocky islet in the North Atlantic which was declared part of Scotland by the Island of Rockall Act 1972.^[6][7] However, the legality of the claim is disputed by the Republic of Ireland, Denmark and Iceland and it is probably unenforceable in international law.^[8][9]

Contents 1 Larger islands 2 Freshwater islands 3 Smaller offshore islands 4 Small archipelagos 5 Highest islands 6 Former islands 7 Bridged islands 8 Tidal islands and tombolos 9 Castle Islands 10 Holy islands 11 List of Scottish islands named after people 12 Places called "island" or "isle" etc which are not islands 12.1 Other elements 12.2 Islands named after mainland areas 13 See also 14 References and footnotes 15 External links

Larger islands

This is a list of Scottish islands either with an area greater than 40 hectares (approximately 100 acres) and/or which are inhabited. The 'Groups' which in many cases provide a more useful guide to location than local authority areas are after Haswell-Smith (2004). The main Groups are: Firth of Clyde, Islay, Firth of Lorn, Mull, Small Isles, Skye, Lewis and Harris, Uists and Barra, St Kilda, Orkney, Shetland and Firth of Forth. In a few cases where the island is either part of recognisable smaller group or archipelago, or is located away from the main groups, an archipelago, local authority or other descriptive name is used instead. "F" designates a freshwater island.

Island	Group	Area (ha)[10]	Population[4]	Height (m)[11]
Ailsa Craig	Firth of Clyde	99	0	338
Arran	Firth of Clyde	43201	5045	874
Auskerry	Orkney	85	5	18
Baleshare	Uists and Barra	910	49	12
Balta	Shetland	80	0	44
Barra	Uists and Barra	5875	1078	383
Barra Head	Uists and Barra	204	0	193
Benbecula	Uists and Barra	8203	1219	124
Berneray, North Uist	Uists and Barra	1010	136	93
Bigga	Shetland	78	0	34
Boreray	St Kilda	77	0	384
Boreray	Uists and Barra	204	0	56
Bressay	Shetland	2805	384	226
Brother Isle	Shetland	40	0	25
Bruray	Out Skerries	55	26	53
Burray	Orkney	903	357	80
Bute	Firth of Clyde	12217	7149	278
Calf of Eday	Orkney	243	0	54
Calve Island	Mull	72	0	20
Canna	Small Isles	1130	6	210
Cara	Islay	66	0	56
Carna	Mull	213	0	169
Cava	Orkney	107	0	38
Ceallasaigh Mòr	Uists and Barra	44 *	0	10
Ceann Ear	Monach Islands	203	0	17
Ceann Iar	Monach Islands	154	0	19
Coll	Mull	7685	164	104
Colonsay	Islay	4074	108	143
Copinsay	Orkney	73	0	64
Danna	Islay	315 *	5	54
Davaar	Firth of Clyde	52 *	2	115
Easdale	Slate Islands	<20 *	58	38
East Burra	Shetland	515	66	81
Eday	Orkney	2745	121	101
Egilsay	Orkney	650	37	35
Eigg	Small Isles	3049	67	393
Eileach an Naoimh	Garvellachs	56	0	80
Eilean Bàn, Lochalsh	Highland	<10 *	2	5
Eilean Chaluim Chille	Lewis and Harris	85	0	43
Eilean Donan	Highland	<1 *	1	3
Eilean Dubh Mòr	Slate Islands	65	0	53
Eilean Liubhaird	Lewis and Harris	125	0	76
Eilean Kearstay	Lewis and Harris	77	0	37
Eilean Macaskin	Islay	50	0	65
Eilean Mòr	Crowlin Islands	170	0	114
Eilean nan Ròn	Highland	138	0	76
Eilean Righ	Islay	86	0	55
Eilean Ruairidh Mòr (F)	Loch Maree	41 *	0	51
Eilean Shona	Small Isles	525	9	265
Eilean Sùbhainn (F)	Loch Maree	118 *	0	36
Eileanan Iasgaich	Uists and Barra	50	0	23
Ensay	Uists and Barra	186	0	49
Eorsa	Mull	122	0	98
Eriska	Loch Linnhe	310 *	0	47
Eriskay	Uists and Barra	703	133	185
Erraid	Mull	187	8	75
Eynhallow	Orkney	75	0	30
Fair Isle	Shetland	768	69	217
Fara	Orkney	295	0	43
Faray	Orkney	180	0	32
Fetlar	Shetland	4078	86	158
Fiaray	Uists and Barra	41	0	30
Flodaigh	Uists and Barra	145 *	11	20
Flodaigh Mòr	Uists and Barra	58	0	28
Flodday	Uists and Barra	40	0	42
Flotta	Orkney	876	81	58
Foula	Shetland	1265	31	418
Fuaigh Mòr (Vuia Mòr)	Lewis and Harris	84	0	67
Fuday	Uists and Barra	232	0	89
Fuiay	Uists and Barra	84	0	107
Gairsay	Orkney	240	3	102
Garbh Eileach	Garvellachs	142	0	110
Garbh Eilean	Shiant Islands	143	0	160
Garbh Eilean, Loch Maree (F)	Loch Maree	65 *	0	25
Gigha	Islay	1395	110	100
Gighay	Uists and Barra	96	0	95
Glims Holm	Orkney	55	0	32
Gometra	Mull	425	5	155
Graemsay	Orkney	409	21	62
Great Bernera	Lewis and Harris	2122	233	87
Great Cumbrae	Firth of Clyde	1168	1434	127
Grimsay	Uists and Barra	833	201	22
Grimsay (South)	Uists and Barra	117 *	19	20
Gruinard Island	Highland	196	0	106
Gunna	Mull	69	0	35
Handa	Highland	309	0	123
Hascosay	Shetland	275	0	30
Hellisay	Uists and Barra	142	0	79
Hermetray	Uists and Barra	72	0	35
Hildasay	Shetland	108	0	32
Hirta	St Kilda	670	0	430
Holy Isle	Firth of Clyde	253	13	314
Horse Island	Summer Isles	53	0	60
Housay	Out Skerries	163	50	53
Hoy	Orkney	13458	272[12]	479
Hunda	Orkney	100	0	41
Iona	Mull	877	125	100
Inchcolm	Firth of Forth		2
Inchfad (F)	Loch Lomond	c.40 *	2	24
Inch Kenneth	Mull	55	0	49
Inchlonaig (F)	Loch Lomond	77 *	0	62
Inchmarnock	Firth of Clyde	266	0	60
Inchmurrin (F)	Loch Lomond	133 *	13	89
Inchtavannach (F)	Loch Lomond	52 *	3	84
Innis Chonain (F)	Loch Awe	8 *	1	62
Isay	Skye	60	0	28
Islay	Islay	61956	3457	491
Isle Martin	Summer Isles	157	0	120
Isle of Ewe	Highland	309	12	72
Isle of May	Firth of Forth	45	0	50
Isle Ristol	Summer Isles	225 *	0	71
Jura	Islay	36692	188	785
Kerrera	Mull	1214	42	189
Killegray	Lewis and Harris	176	0	45
Kirkibost	Uists and Barra	205	0	7
Lamba	Shetland	43	0	35
Lamb Holm	Orkney	40	0	20
Lewis and Harris	Lewis and Harris	217898	19918	799
Linga near Muckle Roe	Shetland	70	0	69
Linga near Yell	Shetland	45	0	26
Linga Holm	Orkney	57	0	10
Lismore	Mull	2351	146	127
Little Bernera	Lewis and Harris	138	0	41
Little Colonsay	Mull	88	0	61
Little Cumbrae	Firth of Clyde	313	0	123
Longa Island	Highland	126	0	70
Longay	Skye	50	0	67
Luing	Slate Islands	1430	212	94
Lunga	Slate Islands	254	7	98
Lunga	Treshnish Isles	81	0	103
Mainland, Orkney	Orkney	52325	15315	271
Mainland, Shetland	Shetland	96879	17550	450
Mealista	Lewis and Harris	124	0	77
Mingulay	Uists and Barra	640	0	273
Moncrieffe Island (F)	River Tay	46 *	3	5
Mousa	Shetland	180	0	55
Muck	Small Isles	559	30	137
Muckle Roe	Shetland	1773	104	267
Muldoanich	Uists and Barra	78	0	153
Mull	Mull	87535	2667	966
North Rona	Atlantic Outlier	109	0	108
North Ronaldsay	Orkney	690	70	20
North Uist	Uists and Barra	30305	1271	347
Noss	Shetland	343	0	181
Oldany Island	Highland	200 *	0	104
Oronsay	Islay	543	5	93
Oronsay	Uists and Barra	85	0	25
Oronsay	Mull	230 *	0	58
Oxna	Shetland	68	0	38
Pabay	Skye	122	0	28
Pabay Mòr	Lewis and Harris	101	0	68
Pabbay	Uists and Barra	250	0	171
Pabbay	Lewis and Harris	820	0	196
Papa	Shetland	59	0	32
Papa Little	Shetland	226	0	82
Papa Stour	Shetland	828	23	87
Papa Stronsay	Orkney	74	10	13
Papa Westray	Orkney	918	65	48
Priest Island	Summer Isles	122	0	78
Raasay	Skye	6405	192	443
Ronay	Uists and Barra	563	0	115
Rousay	Orkney	4860	212	250
Rùm	Small Isles	10463	22	812
Samphrey	Shetland	66	0	29
Sanda Island	Firth of Clyde	151	1	123
Sanday	Orkney	5043	478	65
Sanday	Small Isles	184	6	59
Sandray	Uists and Barra	385	0	207
Scalpay	Skye	2483	10	392
Scalpay	Lewis and Harris	653	322	104
Scarba	Islay	1474	0	449
Scarp	Lewis and Harris	1045	0	308
Scotasay	Lewis and Harris	49	0	57
Seaforth Island	Lewis and Harris	273	0	217
Seil	Slate Islands	1329	560	146
Shapinsay	Orkney	2948	300	64
Shillay	Lewis and Harris	47	0	79
Shuna	Slate Islands	451	1	90
Shuna	Loch Linnhe	155	0	71
Skye	Skye	165625	9232	993
Soay	Skye	1036	7	141
Soay	St Kilda	99	0	378
Soay Mòr	Lewis and Harris	45	0	37
South Havra	Shetland	59	0	42
South Rona	Skye	930	2	125
South Ronaldsay	Orkney	4980	854	118
South Uist	Uists and Barra	32026	1818	620
South Walls	Orkney	850 *	120 (est)[12]	57
St Serf's Inch (F)	Loch Leven	41 *	0	110
Stockinish Island	Lewis and Harris	49	0	44
Stroma	Highland	375	0	53
Stronsay	Orkney	3275	343	44
Stuley	Uists and Barra	45	0	40
Switha	Orkney	41	0	29
Swona	Orkney	92	0	41
Tahay	Uists and Barra	53	0	65
Tanera Beag	Summer Isles	66	0	83
Tanera Mòr	Summer Isles	310	5	124
Taransay	Lewis and Harris	1475	0	267
Texa	Islay	48	0	48
Tiree	Mull	7834	770	141
Torsa	Slate Islands	113	0	62
Trondra	Shetland	275	133	60
Ulva	Mull	1990	16	313
Unst	Shetland	12068	720	284
Uyea, Northmavine	Shetland	45	0	70
Uyea, Unst	Shetland	205	0	50
Vaila	Shetland	327	2	95
Vacsay	Lewis and Harris	41	0	34
Vallay	Uists and Barra	260	0	38
Vatersay	Uists and Barra	960	94	185
Vementry	Shetland	370	0	90
West Burra	Shetland	743	753	217
West Linga	Shetland	125	0	52
Westray	Orkney	4713	563	169
Whalsay	Shetland	1970	1034	119
Wiay	Skye	148	0	60
Wiay	Uists and Barra	375	0	102
Wyre	Orkney	311	18	32
Yell	Shetland	21211	957	205

Freshwater islands

Main article: List of fresh water islands in Scotland

There are numerous other freshwater islands, of which the more notable include Lochindorb Castle Island, Loch Leven Castle Island, St Serf's Inch, and Inchmahome, each of which have played a highly important part in Scottish history. Inchmurrin in Loch Lomond is the largest freshwater island in the British Isles,^[13][14]. It is in Loch Lomond, which contains over sixty other islands.^[14]

Smaller offshore islands

This is a continuing list of uninhabited Scottish islands smaller than 40 hectares in size.

Small archipelagos

There are various small archipelagos which may be better known than the larger islands they contain. These include:

Highest islands

• See also List of Munros and List of Marilyns on Scottish islands

Scotland's islands include thirteen Munros (mountains with a height over 3000 feet or 914.4 metres), twelve of them found on Skye, and a total of 227 Marilyns (hills with a relative height of at least 150 metres, regardless of absolute height).^[15] The following list is of all islands with a highest elevation greater than 300 metres (984 feet).

Rank	Island	Mountain	Height (ft)	Height (m)
1	Skye	Sgurr Alasdair	3,258	993
2	Mull	Ben More	3,169	966
3	Arran	Goat Fell	2,867	874
4	Rùm	Askival	2,664	812
5	Lewis and Harris	Clisham	2,621	799
6	Jura	Beinn an Òir	2,575	785
7	South Uist	Beinn Mhòr	2,034	620
8	Islay	Beinn Bheigier	1,610	491
9	Hoy	Ward Hill	1,571	479
10	Shetland Mainland	Ronas Hill	1,476	450
11	Scarba	Cruach Scarba	1,473	449
12	Raasay	Dùn Caan	1,453	443
13	Hirta	Conachair	1,410	430
14	Foula	The Sneug	1,371	418
15	Eigg	An Sgurr	1,289	393
16	Scalpay, Inner Hebrides	Mullach na Càrn	1,286	392
17	Boreray, St Kilda	Mullach an Eilein	1,259	384
18	Barra	Heaval	1,256	383
19	Soay, St Kilda	Cnoc Glas	1,240	378
20	North Uist	Eavel	1,138	347
21	Ailsa Craig	The Cairn	1,108	338
22	Holy Isle	Mullach Mòr	1,030	314
23	Ulva	Beinn Creagach	1,026	313
24	Scarp	Sròn Romul	1,010	308

Former islands

The following is a list of places which were formerly islands, but by some definitions are no longer so, due to silting up, natural processes and harbour building.

• Inchbroach, also known as Rossie Island, now part of Montrose harbour
• Keith Inch (not to be confused with Inchkeith), is now part of Peterhead Harbour, and hence is the easternmost point of 'mainland' Scotland.
• North Inch, one of the "Inches" in Perth, formerly an island in the River Tay.
• Rosyth Castle also stands on a former island.

Bridged islands

Many of Scotland's islands are connected to the mainland/other islands by bridge or causeway. Although some people consider these to be no longer islands, they are generally treated as such. Outer Hebrides Many of the islands of the southern Outer Hebrides have been joined to other islands by causeways and bridges. These include:

• Baleshare
• Benbecula
• Berneray
• Eriskay
• Grimsay
• North Uist
• South Uist
• Vatersay (joined to Barra, but not to the above islands)

To the north, Scalpay and Great Bernera are connected to Lewis and Harris. Inner Hebrides

• The Isle of Skye is connected to the mainland by the Skye Bridge which now incorporates Eilean Bàn.
• Eilean Shona is connected to mainland Moidart by a bridge.
• Eilean Donan (to mainland)
• Eriska (to mainland)
• Seil (to mainland) via Telford's 1792 'Bridge across The Atlantic'.

Orkney Islands

Similarly, four Orkney islands are joined to the Orkney Mainland by a series of causeways known as the Churchill Barriers. They are:

• South Ronaldsay
• Burray
• Lamb Holm
• Glims Holm

Hunda is in turn connected to Burray via a causeway. South Walls and Hoy are connected by a causeway called the Ayre. The islands are treated as one entity (Hoy) by the UK census. There are ideas being discussed to build an undersea tunnel between the archipelago and Caithness, at a length of about 9-10 miles (15-16 km) or (more likely) one connecting Orkney Mainland to Shapinsay,^[16][17] although little has come of it. Shetland Islands Several Shetland islands are joined to the Shetland Mainland:

• West Burra and East Burra (via Trondra)
• Muckle Roe
• Trondra

There is also a bridge from Housay to Bruray. Others Various other islands are also connected by bridges or causeways, to the mainland or other islands, including:

• Inchgarvie (part of Forth Bridge), thus joined to both Fife and Lothian on the Mainland.
• Garbh Eilean at the entrance to Loch Glencoul is now joined to the mainland by both the Kylesku Bridge to the south and its associated roadworks to the north.

Tidal islands and tombolos

There are a large number of small tidal islets in Scotland. The more notable ones include:

• Baleshare
• Calve Island
• Castle Island
• Corn Holm
• Cramond Island
• Danna
• Davaar Island
• Eilean Shona
• Eriska
• Erraid
• Helliar Holm
• Kili Holm
• Isle Ristol
• Sanday
• Torsa

Oronsay means 'ebb island' and there are several tidal islands of this name.^[18] The three main islands of the Monach Islands (Heisgeir), Ceann Iar, Ceann Ear and Shivinish are connected at main tide. It is said that it was at one time possible to walk all the way to Baleshare, and on to North Uist, five miles away at low tide. In the 16th century, a large tidal wave was said to have washed this away.^[2] St Ninian's Isle is connected to Mainland Shetland by a tombolo. Although greater than 40 hectares in size it fails to meet the definition of an island used in this list as it is only surrounded by water during occasional spring tides and storms.^[19] Dùn in St Kilda is separated from Hirta by a shallow strait about 50 metres wide. This is normally impassable but is reputed to dry out on rare occasions.^[2]

Castle Islands

Ther are several small Scottish islands that are dominated by a castle or other fortification. The castle is often better known than the island, and the islands themselves are often tidal or bridged. Due to their picturesque nature some of them are are well-known from postcards and films. Examples include:

• Bass Rock
• Castle Island
• Calvay
• Castle Stalker
• Castle Tioram
• Eilean Aigas (F)
• Eilean Dearg, Loch Riddon
• Eilean Donan
• Inchtalla (F)
• Kilchurn Castle (F)
• Kisimul Castle
• Loch Leven Castle (F)
• Mousa
• Threave Castle (F)
• Wyre

Many of the Islands of the Forth and southern Orkneys have fortifications from the two world wars. Rosyth Castle stands on a former island.

Holy islands

A huge number of the islands of Scotland have some kind of culdee/church connection, and/or are dominated by a church. The more notable include:

• Davaar Island
• Egilsay
• Eynhallow
• Holy Island
• Inchcolm
• Inch Kenneth
• Inchmahome (F)
• Iona
• Isle Maree
• North Rona
• Oronsay
• Papa Stronsay (current Transalpine Redemptorist monastery, but all islands called "Papa-" or "Pabbay" tend to be former saints' islands)
• St Ninian's Isle
• St Serf's Inch (F)
• Tiree ("land of Iona")

Brother Isl