Luing

Luing is one of the Slate Islands in the Firth of Lorn, off Argyll in western Scotland. About 26 kilometres south of Oban, the island covers 1,430 hectares and has fewer than 200 residents. Most live in small settlements like Cullipool, Toberonochy and Blackmillbay. The island is surrounded by skerries and islets, with a narrow sound linking it to Seil. A regular ferry crosses the 200-metre-wide Cuan Sound to Seil, which is bridged to the mainland. The island’s slate industry once shaped its economy, supplying stone for Glasgow University and Iona Abbey. Quarries at Toberonochy and Cullipool closed in 1965, but their legacy remains in the island’s stone-built homes. Today, tourism, lobster fishing and beef farming support the community. Luing cattle, a hardy red breed, were developed here in 1947 by the Cadzow family. The island has also produced several winners of Mòd gold medals in Gaelic song and poetry. Visitors find a quiet landscape of raised beaches and rocky shores shaped by ancient seas. The ruined church at Kilchattan holds gravestones of islanders past, including a Covenanter named Alexander Campbell. Thin bands of quartzite and igneous dykes mark the island’s geology, while heather and grass cover much of the ground. The small harbours and stone cottages give a sense of a working island still tied to the sea.