Inch Kenneth
| Inch Kenneth Gaelic: Innis Choinnich | |
 Inch Kenneth from Ulva, behind Geasgill Mor & Beag | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
| Location: | 56°26’30"N, 6°9’47"W |
| Grid reference: | NM435355 |
| Area: | 136 acres |
| Highest point: | 161 feet |
| Data | |
| Population: | 0 |
Inch Kenneth is a small grassy island of Argyllshire, in the Parish of Kilfinichen and Kilvickeon. The island lies at the entrance of Loch Na Keal, off the west coast of the Isle of Mull in the Inner Hebrides to the south-southeast of Ulva. It is part of the Loch Na Keal National Scenic Area.
History
The island is named after St Kenneth, a follower of Saint Columba, who is said to have founded a monastery on the island.
Inch Kenneth was visited in 1773 by Samuel Johnson and James Boswell during their tour of the Hebrides; they were entertained there by Sir Allan MacLean, head of the Maclean clan. Both Johnson[1] and Boswell[2] published accounts of their visit to Inch Kenneth.
In the 1930s the island was owned by Sir Harold Boulton, the writer of the words to the Skye Boat Song. He enlarged an earlier house to make the existing large mansion on the island.
Its most famous owners were the eccentric Mitford family. Unity Mitford spent her final years living on the island. Following the death of their mother, Lady Redesdale in 1963, the island was inherited by the surviving Mitford sisters. Diana, Nancy, Deborah and Pamela sold their shares in the island to their sister and fellow beneficiary Jessica. Jessica, a former communist, teasingly suggested that it might become a Soviet submarine base.
The island was sold by Jessica Mitford in the late 1960s and it remains under private ownership. Inch Kenneth was one of the locations for the 1993 feature film Walk Me Home produced by author Timothy Neat.[3]
References
- ↑ Samuel Johnson (1775). A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland.
- ↑ James Boswell (1785) The Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides with Samuel Johnson, LL.D.
- ↑ "Mull: I Know Where I'm Going" powell-pressburger.org. Retrieved 29 December 2009. Extract from Bruce, David (1996) Scotland the Movie. Polygon.