Shuna () is one of the

Slate Islands Slate Islands may refer to: * Slate Islands, Scotland, in the council area of Argyll and Bute * Slate Islands (Ontario), Canada * Slate Islands (Alaska), United States See also * Slate Island Slate Island is an uninhabited island of about ( ...

lying east of

Luing Luing ( ; ) is one of the Slate Islands, Scotland, Slate Islands, Firth of Lorn, in the west of Argyll in Scotland, about south of Oban. The island has an area of and is bounded by several small skerries and islets. It has a population of aroun ...

on the west coast of Scotland.

History

In 1815, James Yates, a Glasgow native living in Woodville in Devon, bought the island from Colonel McDonald of Lynedale. In 1829 Yates bequeathed the island in

trust Trust often refers to: * Trust (social science), confidence in or dependence on a person or quality It may also refer to: Business and law * Trust (law), a legal relationship in which one person holds property for another's benefit * Trust (bu ...

to the magistrates and council of Glasgow, with profits from the estate divide two fifths to the city, two fifths to

Glasgow University The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in post-nominals; ) is a public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ...

and one fifth to

Glasgow Royal Infirmary The Glasgow Royal Infirmary (GRI) is a large teaching hospital. With a capacity of around 1,000 beds, the hospital campus covers an area of around , and straddles the Townhead and Dennistoun districts on the north-eastern fringe of the city cen ...

. This was disputed by Yates' heir, who accepted £300 from the trustees to settle his claim. The revenue from the island was scarce and the trustees sold it in 1911. Shuna Castle was built as recently as 1911. It fell into disrepair in the 1980s when the cost of maintenance became too great."Shuna Wildlife & History"
Internet Archive. Original access: islandofshuna.co.uk on 28 July 2007. Archived at 14 August 2007. Retrieved 24 July 2012. Unlike the other Slate Islands, Shuna has little

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous, metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade, regional metamorphism. It is the finest-grained foliated metamorphic ro ...

, and has historically been farmed, although it is now overgrown with

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with woody plants (trees and shrubs), or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the '' plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunli ...

. There are several

cairn A cairn is a human-made pile (or stack) of stones raised for a purpose, usually as a marker or as a burial mound. The word ''cairn'' comes from the (plural ). Cairns have been and are used for a broad variety of purposes. In prehistory, t ...

s in the south and west of the small island. During the nineteenth century the population numbered up to 69, but by the 2001 census, Shuna was one of four Scottish islands with a population of one. The island has been privately owned by the Gully family since 1946. It is currently occupied by a farmer and his family, who let four houses as holiday cottages and had a usually resident population of 3 in 2011. The holidaymakers are brought onto the island by boat from the jetty at

Arduaine Arduaine (, pronounced ''"Ar-DOO-nee"'') is a Scottish coastal hamlet located on the A816 about 20 miles south of Oban and 18 miles north of Lochgilphead. It is in the council area of Argyll and Bute, at the southern boundary of the civil parish ...

on the mainland. In 2025, freehold possession of the island, including all buildings, was listed for sale at £5.5 million.

Wildlife

The island has healthy populations of red, roe and fallow deer; along with otters, common and grey seals, porpoises and dolphins out on the water.

References

External links

Island website
Slate Islands Islands of Argyll and Bute Private islands of the United Kingdom {{Argyll-geo-stub