Inch Kenneth

Inch Kenneth is a small grassy island off Mull’s west coast, sitting at the mouth of Loch na Keal near Ulva. It belongs to the Loch na Keal National Scenic Area, one of Scotland’s forty protected landscapes. The island takes its name from Saint Kenneth, a follower of Saint Columba who reputedly founded a monastery there. It lies within the parish of Kilfinichen and Kilvickeon in Argyll and Bute. The island’s visitors include Samuel Johnson and James Boswell, who stopped there in 1773 during their Hebridean tour. They were hosted by Sir Allan MacLean, chief of the Maclean clan, and later wrote about the visit. In the early 1930s Sir Harold Boulton enlarged an existing house into the present mansion. The Mitford family owned it later in the century, and Unity Mitford spent her final years on the island. Today the island remains in private hands, still owned by the Barlow family. A 1993 film, Walk Me Home, was shot on location here. Though classified as inhabited, it had no usual residents at the time of recent censuses.