Inishail (alternate Inchald) is an island and former parish,Wilson, Rev. John ''The Gazetteer of Scotland'' (Edinburgh, 1882) Published by W. & A.K. Johnstone in Loch Awe, Scotland.

Geography

The island lies at the north end of the loch in the

council area {{Unreferenced, date=May 2019, bot=noref (GreenC bot) A council area is one of the areas defined in Schedule 1 of the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 and is under the control of one of the local authorities in Scotland created by that Ac ...

Argyll and Bute Argyll and Bute (; , ) is one of 32 unitary authority, unitary council areas of Scotland, council areas in Scotland and a lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area. The current lord-lieutenant for Argyll and Bute is Jane Margaret MacLeod ...

, between Cladich and Kilchurn. Among the group of islets near the head of Loch Awe, Inishail is conspicuous by its grassy surface, giving it the nickname "Green Isle", as the others being more densely wooded. It is situated between the Pass of Brander at the one side of the loch, and the village of Cladich on the other.

History

The parish (no 512) is now part of the parish of Glen Orchy and Inishail. On a slight eminence are the fragments of the walls of a small building, enclosing a space choked up with stones and a growth of nettles and other weeds; a larger space is protected from the intrusion of cattle by an iron fence. This was the Chapel of St Fyndoca, and, perhaps, the remains of an ancient small convent or

nunnery A convent is an enclosed community of monks, nuns, friars or religious sisters. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The term is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican Comm ...

, though there is some dispute about its existence. The convent was said to be occupied by

Cistercian The Cistercians (), officially the Order of Cistercians (, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint Benedict, as well as the contri ...

nuns, and the property belonging to it was erected after the

Protestant Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the papacy and ...

into a temporal lordship in favour of Hay, who had been Abbot of Inchaffray, but later became a Protestant. A burying ground has several ancient, carved

tombstone A gravestone or tombstone is a marker, usually stone, that is placed over a grave. A marker set at the head of the grave may be called a headstone. An especially old or elaborate stone slab may be called a funeral stele, stela, or slab. The us ...

s, with sculptures and devices appropriate to ecclesiastics, warriors, knights, and a peer. Some grave slabs, those having figures of armed warriors and emblematical devices, may have been taken to the burial ground of Glenorchy Parish Church in Dalmally. While the principal burial place of the Dukes and Duchesses of Argyll is St Munn's Parish Church, Kilmun, the 11th and the 12th Dukes chose to be buried on the island of Inishail in Loch Awe.

References

· Islands of Loch Awe Burial sites of the Campbells of Argyll Parishes in Argyll {{Argyll-geo-stub