With a population today of approximately 3,200, the Isle of Islay is known the world over for its wildlife and its incomparable whiskies. The Island also boasts a host of archaeological and historic sites dating back to antiquity, as well as a score or more of early Christian and Norse Viking settlements. The 9th-c Kildalton Cross harkens back to Iona and to the beginnings of Scottish Christianity.

Islay was once the powercentre of the great medieval kingdom of the Lords of the Isles and, during that period, held sway over the North Sea-roads and vied with English, Irish, Scandinavian, and Scottish kings and chieftains for mastery of the waves. Its later history is tied to the MacDonalds, the Campbell overlordships, the Clearances, and emigration.

Gaelic has been spoken on Islay for approximately 1,500 years. When the Gaels first arrived in Scotland from Ireland in the 5th and 6th centuries they settled in Argyll. These first Gaels were the Dalriada and different kingroups of the Dalriada settled in different places in Argyll. The Irish immigrants brought their Gaelic language with them and although this language has changed substantially over time, it is spoken today by about a third of Islay’s inhabitants with many more being attracted to learn it