Ailsa Craig
Sign in to saveisland in the outer Firth of Clyde, South Ayrshire, Scotland, UK
Key facts
- Scottish gaelic name
- Creag Ealasaid
- Os grid reference
- NX019997
- Island group
- Firth of Clyde
- Area
- 99 ha (240 acres)
- Area rank
- 150=
- Highest elevation
- 338 m (1,109 ft), (a Marilyn )
- Council area
- South Ayrshire
- Country
- Scotland
- Sovereign state
- United Kingdom
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- island
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Population
- 0
- Area
- 99
- Elevation
- 338
- Time zone
- UTC±00:00
- Body of water
- Firth of Clyde
- Image
- Ailsa Craig Scotland 2022.jpg
- Width
- 1.1
- Length
- 1.3
Show 5 more facts
- described by source
- Encyclopædia Britannica 11th edition
- Commons category
- Ailsa Craig
- authority
- Argyll and Bute
- located in/on physical feature
- British Isles
- historic county
- Ayrshire
Sources (2)
via Wikidata · CC0
~22 min read
Encyclopedic overview
Ailsa Craig (/ˈeɪlsə/; Scottish Gaelic: Creag Ealasaid) is an island of 99 ha (1 km; 245 acres) in the outer Firth of Clyde, 16 km (8+1⁄2 nmi) west of mainland Scotland. The island's microgranite has long been quarried to make curling stones. The now-uninhabited island comprises an eroded magmatic pluton formed during the same period of igneous activity as magmatic rocks on the nearby Isle of Arran.
The island, colloquially known as "Paddy's Milestone" because it is halfway between Belfast and Glasgow, was a haven for Catholics during the Scottish Reformation in the 16th century, but is today a bird sanctuary, providing a home for huge numbers of gannets and an increasing number of puffins.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Ailsa Craig” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.