Ailsa Craig
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This article is about Ailsa Craig, a Scottish island. See also Ailsa Craig, Ontario for the Canadian town.
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Ailsa Craig (gaelic: Aillse Creag meaning fairy island) is a small island 2 miles in circumference in the North Channel of the Irish Sea which lies approximately 10 miles west of Girvan in Scotland. It belongs to the administrative district of South Ayrshire, in the ancient parish of Dailly. Rising to 338 metres, this volcanic rock was a haven for Roman Catholics during the Scottish Reformation and is now a bird sanctuary known for its gannets. From the mid-19th to mid-20th centuries, the island was quarried for its rare type of micro-granite with riebeckite (known as "Ailsite") which was used to make curling stones. The floor of the Chapel of the Thistle in St Giles Cathedral, Edinburgh is also made of this rock.
The Ailsa Craig is nicknamed by locals as "Paddy's Milestone", as many Irish emigrants passed it when moving to Scotland..
The island is uninhabited, and is home to an automatic lighthouse and a ruined castle. The lighthouse was manned until the 1970's.
In 1831, the twelfth earl of Cassillis became first Marquess of Ailsa, taking the title from the Craig, which was his property.
Reference
- 1. The Scottish Islands, Hamish Haswell-Smith ISBN 1841954543
- 2. 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica