- Not to be confused with Morven
Coordinates: 56°35′N 5°42′W / 56.59°N 5.7°W
| Morvern peninsula | |
| Scottish Gaelic: 'A' Mhorbhairn (the Sea-Gap) | |
 Kiel Church and the Morvern Cross, at Lochaline; Kiel is derived from Cille Choluimchille, church of Saint Columba |
|
  Morvern peninsula
Morvern peninsula shown within Scotland |
|
| Population | 320 |
|---|---|
| - Edinburgh | 190 miles (road) 149 miles (via Corran ferry) |
| - London | 567 miles (road) 526 miles (via Corran ferry) |
| Council area | Highland |
| Lieutenancy area | Inverness |
| Country | Scotland |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | OBAN |
| Postcode district | PA34 |
| Dialling code | 01967 |
| Police | Northern |
| Fire | Highlands and Islands |
| Ambulance | Scottish |
| EU Parliament | Scotland |
| UK Parliament | Ross, Skye and Lochaber |
| Scottish Parliament | Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber |
| List of places: UK • Scotland • | |
Morvern is a peninsula in south west Lochaber, on the west coast of Scotland. The name is derived from the Gaelic A' Mhorbhairn (the Sea-Gap). The highest point is the summit of the Corbett Creach Bheinn which reaches 2,800 feet (850 m) in elevation.
Morvern is approximately 250 square miles (650 km2) with a current population of about 320.
Contents |
History
Morvern was formerly known as Kinelvadon, which William J. Watson takes to be from Cineal Bhaodain, that is that lands of the Cenél Báetáin, a division of the Cenél Loairn named after Báetán, a putative great-grandson of Loarn mac Eirc. The Senchus fer n-Alban states that "Baotan has twenty houses".
The ruined Ardtornish Castle was in the possession of Somerled in the 12th century and then the Lords of the Isles, whose ownership was recalled in a poem of the same name by Sir Walter Scott. Kinlochaline Castle was once the seat of the MacInnes clan. It was largely destroyed by the army of Oliver Cromwell and restored in 1890.
Before the Highland clearances the population of Morvern was about 2500.
The history of the parish of Morvern in the nineteenth century has been detailed in Philip Gaskell's Morvern Transformed.
Some residents of St Kilda were relocated to Lochaline, the main village of Morvern, when the island was evacuated in 1930.
Present Day
Ferries depart from Lochaline, at 56°32′12″N 05°46′29″W / 56.53667°N 5.77472°W, to the Isle of Mull. Rahoy has a deer farm supported by Highlands and Islands Enterprise. The Morvern Community Development Company, the local development trust, was established in 1999. It aims to provide increased employment opportunities, particularly for the young, and to create a wind energy project.
The closure of the silica mine at Lochaline was announced in December 2008, with the loss of 11 jobs.[1]
See also
Notes
- ^ "Highland community faces up to future after mine closure" Local People Leading. Retrieved 5 February 20009.
References
- Gaskell, Philip (1968) Morvern Transformed: A Highland Parish in the Nineteenth Century. Cambridge University Press.
- Maclean, Charles (1972) Island on the Edge of the World. Edinburgh. Canongate.
- Murray, W.H. (1977) The Companion Guide to the West Highlands of Scotland. London. Collins.
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