What started out as a rather gloomy day after overnight rain we were pleased to see the sun come out and the temperature climb. We explored the remains of a medieval chapel, believed to be from the 15th century with the east end of the building dating to the 13th century. The name of the church is Kilnaughton for Cil Neachdain, Mechtan’s Church. There are 14th century grave slabs inside and outside the church and two in particular we were excited to find. The remains of the church stand a bit above the shore of Kilnaughton Bay within an enormous cemetery that has old and new graves and which offers a spectacular view and solitary place to walk.
We wandered the shore and looked for rocks for the jewelry collection being created for the book project. The jeweler working on designs for the unique and exclusive line asked us to pick up stones from the different places we visited so we now have a collection from Eigg, Texa, Colonsay and Islay with the ones from Texa being my favorites. The task at hand now is to get the stones home!
There is a famous golf course here on Islay, the Machrie, so we went to have a look. So I could report to my golfing friends. It is in a most spectacular location in Port Ellen. The Machrie’s golf course is ranked 75th in the world in Golf World’s Top 100, and was awarded Golf Hotel of the Year 2023/24 at the Scottish Hotel Awards. So to all my golfing friends, make a trip to Islay and play at the Machrie! You can also stay at the luxury hotel attached to the course! It is not cheap to play here but probably a once in a lifetime experience for most U.S. golfers!
