The eighth International Conference on the Languages of Scotland and Ulster was held at the Columba Centre (Ionad Chaluim Chille Ìle), Isle of Islay in July 2006. Although papers from the entire field of Scottish and Ulster language study were included, a special focus was on the areas of Islay, Jura and coastal mainland Argyll. The languages, place-names, culture, history, literature and culture of this distinctive area of Scotland were examined in papers which are revised and edited for this publication by Derrick McClure, John Kirk and Margaret Storrie, presenting a fascinating collection of new studies by leading scholars.
Earra-Ghaidheil, ‘the coast of the Gael’, was where the Gaelic language was first established in Scotland, and the collection begins with an account of the Gaelic of South Argyll by scholar and researcher, George Jones. Concentrating on Jura Gaelic and its differences from Islay Gaelic, Jones provides a detailed linguistic examination and calls for further research to be done while native speakers remain alive, for sadly Jura Gaelic appears to be in terminal decline.
The theme of place-names is continued in papers by Peter Drummond of Glasgow University and Paul Tempan, researcher in the Northern Ireland Place-name Project. They present complementary studies of place-names, the first concentrating on mountain names in Islay and Jura and the second extending the discussion in time and space by tracing ancient Indo-European roots of the word structures, and examining instances of it in Ireland. Continue Reading »
I’m happy to announce another new page on the Southern Hebrides website. This new page is about the most north-westerly island in the Southern Hebrides, the 
When I think of travelling the islands in the Southern Hebrides my first thoughts go out to ships, yachts, boats, walking, cars you name it. I assume yours will too? That’s why it’s all the more interesting that I found a website today called 
I have played with the idea of making a website for the Southern Hebrides, the islands of Argyll, for quite some time now. Ever since I visited the isle of Islay for the first time I fell in love with this unique part of Scotland. The area is steeped in history and has some of the most stunning scenery I can imagine. It’s here on these islands where you get the real sense of island life, something so well described by Hamish Haswell-Smith, the author of the book islands of Scotland, a book I can highly recommend.