Kerrera ('copse-water land') The island is just over four miles long and about 1.75 miles wide at its widest. Although hilly in places, rising to over 600 feet, there is also good land. The island shelters Oban Bay, making it a very safe anchorage, and has two harbours itself at Ardantrive Hay and Horse Shoe Bay. There is a sandy beach at Slatrach. To get to Kerrera you must use the small ferry at Gallanach. The island was inhabited since prehistoric times, and there are several cairns and cists, as well as an early Christian settlement or cashel at Rubh a' Bhearnaig. Kerrera was held by the Vikings.

The island was used as a stopping off place for moving cattle from Mull to the mainland: the beasts were ferried across to Barr nam Boc, then driven to the north of the island where there were forced to swim across to Oban. The island once supported a population of nearly 200, but it has since dwindled.

The island was a property of the MacDougalls, who had a castle at Gylen, 'castle of fountains' (built in 1587, it is still held by the same family). Jutting into the sea is the ruinous L-plan tower house which is Gylen Castle (which is being renovated). The castle was captured and burnt by a Covenanter army, led by General David Leslie, in 1647 and all the inhabitants were killed during the attack (some after surrendering). The Brooch of Lorn, a brooch torn from Robert the Bruce's cloak, was stolen, and not returned by the Campbells of Inverawe until the 19th century.

There was an earlier castle at Gylen where Alexander II of Scots took a fever and died on 8th July 1249. He was on an expedition, with a large fleet, to attempt to retake the Western Isles of Scotland from the Norwegians (although Dalrigh near Horse Shoe Bay is given as an alternative site). King Hakon of Norway held court here before going on to defeat at the battle of Largs in 1263.

Cladh a' Bhearnaig: The site of an early medieval monastery or cashel, consisting of a round enclosure divided in two by a wall. The foundations of several buildings survive within the enclosure.

The Western Isles - by James Penrith, Deborah Penrith
An excellent guide to the Hebrides, providing in depth island-by-island information.

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