Mull of Kintyre

The Mull of Kintyre refers to the most southwesterly section of the long Kintyre Peninsula in southwestern Scotland. The area is home to an historic lighthouse and has been immortalised into the popular consciousness by the hit 1977 song "Mull of Kintyre" by resident Paul McCartney.

Geography

The Mull lies at . Both Ailsa Craig and the north coast of Ireland are perfectly visible from the Mull. The steep sides rising out of the sea on all sides has made the area a hazard to flight. The remains of a number of Second World War planes litter the area.

History

The Mull has been an important landbridge throughout history. It is thought that it was used by early man in their travels from continental Europe to Ireland. In more recent times it was used again by the Scotti when they travelled from Ireland to establish the kingdom of Dál Riata in modern-day Argyll.

The area has been the site of many air crashes throughout its history; one of the most notorious was the Chinook crash on Mull of Kintyre, June 2 1994.

The Lighthouse

Mull of Kintyre Lighthouse was the second lighthouse commissioned in Scotland by the Commissioners of the Northern Lights. It was designed and built by Thomas Smith and completed in 1788. Smith had previously designed the light at Kinnaird Head but Mull of Kintyre was to be a far more substantial project in a far more remote location.

The lighthouse was rebuilt in the 1820s, changed to electrical power in 1976 and was automated in 1996. The lighthousekeeper's cottage is now run as holiday cottage by the National Trust for Scotland.

The term 'mull'

Mull, from the Gaelic Am Maol, is an exclusively Scottish term for the geographic feature known as a headland or promontory and, often more specifically, for the tip of that promontory or peninsula. The term is most commonly found in use in the southwest of the country. Other mulls include:

The Mull of Galloway
The Mull of Oa, a headland on Islay
The Mull of Cara, a promontory at the south of Cara Island
The Mull of Logan, a promontory on the Rhins of Galloway
Mull Head, a headland on the Orkney Mainland

Mull, the Inner Hebridean Island's name has a different (pre-Gaelic) derivation.

Trivia

The Mull of Kintyre is used as a reference in the Mull of Kintyre test, an unofficial test for the propriety of images of naked men.

External links

Headlands of Scotland | Lighthouses in Scotland | Argyll and Bute