Argyll and Bute is one of 32 unitary council areas in Scotland and a lieutenancy area. The current lord-lieutenant for Argyll and Bute is Jane Margaret MacLeod. The administrative centre for the council area is in Lochgilphead at Kilmory Castle, a 19th-century Gothic Revival building and estate. The current council leader is Robin Currie, a councillor for Kintyre and the Islands.
The Inner Hebrides is an archipelago off the west coast of mainland Scotland, to the south east of the Outer Hebrides. Together these two island chains form the Hebrides, which experience a mild oceanic climate. The Inner Hebrides comprise 35 inhabited islands as well as 44 uninhabited islands with an area greater than 30 hectares. Skye, Mull, and Islay are the three largest, and also have the highest populations. The main commercial activities are tourism, crofting, fishing and whisky distilling. In modern times the Inner Hebrides have formed part of two separate local government jurisdictions, one to the north and the other to the south. Together, the islands have an area of about 4,130 km2 (1,594 sq mi), and had a population of 18,948 in 2011. The population density is therefore about 4.6 inhabitants per square kilometre.
Lismore is an island of some 2,351 hectares in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The climate is damp and mild, with over 166 centimetres (65 in) of rain recorded annually. This fertile, low-lying island was once a major centre of Celtic Christianity, with a 6th-century monastery associated with Saint Moluag, and later became the seat of the medieval Bishop of Argyll. There are numerous ruined structures, including a broch and two 13th-century castles.
The County of Bute, also known as Buteshire, is a historic county and registration county of Scotland.
Argyll, sometimes called Argyllshire, is a historic county and registration county of western Scotland.
Kintyre is a peninsula in western Scotland, in the southwest of Argyll and Bute. The peninsula stretches about 30 miles, from the Mull of Kintyre in the south to East and West Loch Tarbert in the north. The region immediately north of Kintyre is known as Knapdale.
Gigha or the Isle of Gigha is an island off the west coast of Kintyre in Scotland. The island forms part of Argyll and Bute and has a population of 163 people. The climate is mild with higher than average sunshine hours and the soils are fertile. The main settlement is Ardminish.
Tiree is the most westerly island in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The low-lying island, southwest of Coll, has an area of 7,834 hectares and a population of around 650.
Great Bernera, often known just as Bernera, is an island and community in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. With an area of just over 21 square kilometres, it is the thirty-fourth largest Scottish island.
Sanda Island is a small island in Argyll and Bute, Scotland, off the southern tip of the Kintyre peninsula, near Southend and Dunaverty Castle.
Lord of the Isles or King of the Isles (Scottish Gaelic: Triath nan Eilean or Rìgh Innse Gall) is a title of Scottish nobility with historical roots that go back beyond the Kingdom of Scotland. It began with Somerled in the 12th century and thereafter the title was held by a series of his descendants, the Norse-Gaelic rulers of the Isle of Man and Argyll and the islands of Scotland in the Middle Ages. They wielded sea-power with fleets of galleys (birlinns). Although they were, at times, nominal vassals of the kings of Norway, Ireland, or Scotland, the island chiefs remained functionally independent for many centuries. Their territory included much of Argyll, the Isles of Arran, Bute, Islay, the Isle of Man, Hebrides, Knoydart, Ardnamurchan, and the Kintyre peninsula. At their height they were the greatest landowners and most powerful lords after the kings of England and Scotland.
Knapdale forms a rural district of Argyll and Bute in the Scottish Highlands, adjoining Kintyre to the south, and divided from the rest of Argyll to the north by the Crinan Canal. It includes two parishes, North Knapdale and South Knapdale. The area is bounded by sea to the east and west, whilst the sea loch of West Loch Tarbert almost completely cuts off the area from Kintyre to the south. The name is derived from two Gaelic elements: Cnap meaning hill and Dall meaning field.
Clan Donald, also known as Clan MacDonald, is a Highland Scottish clan and one of the largest Scottish clans. The Lord Lyon King of Arms, the Scottish official with responsibility for regulating heraldry in that country, issuing new grants of coats of arms, and serving as the judge of the Court of the Lord Lyon, recognises under Scottish law the High Chief of Clan Donald. Historically the chiefs of the Clan Donald held the title of Lord of the Isles until 1493 and two of those chiefs also held the title of Earl of Ross until 1476. Queen Mary of Denmark is member of Clan Donald.
Tarbert is a place name in Scotland and Ireland. Places named Tarbert are characterised by a narrow strip of land, or isthmus. This can be where two lochs nearly meet, or a causeway out to an island.
Tayinloan is a village situated on the west coast of the Kintyre peninsula in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. The village has a sub post office, general store and a small hotel, a village hall and a play park. There is a cafe bar situated beside the ferry car park which also offers self-catering or bed and breakfast accommodation. The nearest towns are Campbeltown and Tarbert.
Clan Macfie is a Highlands Scottish Clan.
Largie Castle is a former mansion house at Tayinloan, Kintyre, Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It was designed by architect Charles Wilson for The Hon. Augustus Moreton Macdonald and built in 1857–9. It was demolished in 1958.
Dùn a' Choin Duibh is a hillfort located near Torinturk, Argyll and Bute, Scotland. According to the local shanachies, the fort is named after a black wolfhound which was half wolf, which defended the fort. The fort provides views to the Inner Hebridean islands of Gigha, Islay and Jura and further to the Mull of Kintyre and Ireland.
Angus MacDonald, 8th of Dunnyveg was the Chief of Clan MacDonald of Dunnyveg.
Description of the Western Isles of Scotland is the oldest known account of the Hebrides and the Islands of the Clyde, two chains of islands off the west coast of Scotland. The author was Donald Monro, a clergyman who used the title of "Dean of the Isles" and who lived through the Scottish Reformation. Monro wrote the original manuscript in 1549, although it was not published in any form until 1582 and was not widely available to the public in its original form until 1774. A more complete version, based on a late 17th-century manuscript written by Sir Robert Sibbald, was first published as late as 1961. Monro wrote in Scots and some of the descriptions are difficult for modern readers to render into English. Although Monro was criticised for publishing folklore and for omitting detail about the affairs of the churches in his diocese, Monro's Description is a valuable historical account and has reappeared in part or in whole in numerous publications, remaining one of the most widely quoted publications about the western islands of Scotland.
