Glendaruel
| Glendaruel | |
| Argyllshire | |
|---|---|
 River at Clachan of Glendaruel | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | NS028845 |
| Location: | 56°-0’47"N, 5°9’51"W |
| Data | |
| Postcode: | PA22 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Argyll and Bute |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Argyll and Bute |
Glendaruel is a glen in the Cowal Peninsula in the south of Argyllshire. Its main settlement is the Clachan of Glendaruel.
About the glen
The present Kilmodan Church was built in the Clachan of Glendaruel in 1783. The Clachan of Glendaruel is the current location of Kilmodan Primary School, and the ground of Col-Glen Shinty Club.
The ruined Dunans Castle also stands in Glendaruel,[1] and the Glendaruel Wood and Crags and the Ruel Estuary are listed as 'Sites of Special Scientific Interest'.
As the nearest hospital is some miles away in Dunoon a disused phone box in the village was converted to house a defibrillator. Just weeks before the instillation a tourist in Glendaruel had died from a heart attack.[2]
Decline
The community is home to around 188 people as of 2008 and has been subject to a general decline in the late 20th century continuing into the early 21st century. The closure of the Glendaruel Hotel, a 17th-century coaching inn housing the only local pub, was in particular described as "a body blow." The hotel closed not long after a widely publicized legal case was won by three Polish former employees who had been described as "Polish Slaves" by the hotel proprietors.
Over the past two decades a number of facilities within the community have been lost, notable examples include the post office, general store and tearoom and even the parish church became part-time, holding services only two Sundays in a month.[3][4][5][6]
Mythology
Glendaruel is thought to be one of the glens praised in the Irish Gaelic poem "The Lament of Deirdre",[7] in which reference is made to a Glenndaruadh. It is found in the 15th-century Glenmasan manuscript, which may go back to an original written down in 1238. Deirdre is a tragic heroine in Irish mythology, and in the poem she is lamenting the necessity of leaving Scotland to return to Ireland.
Music
Glendaruel is the inspiration for a number of bagpipe tunes, including The Glendaruel Highlanders, The Sweet Maid of Glendaruel, and The Dream Valley of Glendaruel.
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Glendaruel) |
References
- ↑ "SCOTLAND | Police probe castle fire". BBC News. 2001-01-14. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/1116929.stm. Retrieved 2012-05-17.
- ↑ Good call for disused phone box - Free Online Library
- ↑ Kirsty McLuckie (15 July 2008). "Pubs are often the canary in the coalmine for small communities – News". The Scotsman. UK. http://www.scotsman.com/news/kirsty_mcluckie_pubs_are_often_the_canary_in_the_coalmine_for_small_communities_1_1080475. Retrieved 10 November 2011.
- ↑ "HOTEL BOSS CALLED US 'POLISH SLAVES' Sacked cleaners win 16k pay-out. – Free Online Library". Thefreelibrary.com. 15 May 2007. http://www.thefreelibrary.com/HOTEL+BOSS+CALLED+US+'POLISH+SLAVES'+Sacked+cleaners+win+16k+pay-out.-a0163363157. Retrieved 12 December 2011.
- ↑ "MY POLISH SLAVES; Taunts from hotel boss cost him pounds 16k at tribunal. – Free Online Library". Thefreelibrary.com. 15 May 2007. http://www.thefreelibrary.com/MY+POLISH+SLAVES%3B+Taunts+from+hotel+boss+cost+him+pounds+16k+at...-a0163363669. Retrieved 12 December 2011.
- ↑ Gordon Thomson (15 May 2007). "Warning as Polish staff win case". Evening Times. http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/warning-as-polish-staff-win-case-1.948632. Retrieved 12 December 2011.
- ↑ "The Lament of Deirdre". Electricscotland.com. http://www.electricscotland.com/history/literat/lamentof.htm. Retrieved 10 November 2011.