Maiden Island

Maiden Island is a small, uninhabited island of around six acres at the mouth of Oban Bay, just off the mainland west of Dunollie Castle and the beach at Camas Bàn. It sits at the northern side of the narrow entrance to Oban Bay, about half a kilometre north of Kerrera, and rises to 28 metres. If you have sailed into Oban on the ferry, you have passed right by it.

Landscape

The channel between Maiden Island and Kerrera is deep, and large ships such as the Caledonian MacBrayne ferries to Mull use it every day. From the island you can see the Hutchison Memorial on the northern tip of Kerrera, which commemorates David Hutchison, one of the founders of the company that became Caledonian MacBrayne. Behind it rise the ruins of Dunollie Castle, ancient seat of the MacDougalls.

History

Several legends explain the island’s name. It may be linked to King Malcolm IV, known to later chroniclers as “Malcolm the Maiden”, who had connections with Kerrera. A darker story tells of a young girl accused of a crime who was tied up on the shore to make her confess; she refused, and drowned as the tide came in. Another tells of Mhairi, whose purity was doubted and who was tied to a rock by her hair as a test; her lover, the warrior Muireadhach, tried to swim to her rescue but was swept away, and both drowned. More likely, the name simply reflects its use as a refuge for women in times of war, as on other Maiden Islands around Scotland.

On 23 December 1940 German bombers attacked a convoy gathered off Lismore, and the cargo ship Breda was damaged and beached in nearby Ardmucknish Bay.

More about Maiden Island

The island also has a wartime story. On 23 December 1940 German bombers attacked a convoy gathered off Lismore, and the cargo ship Breda was damaged and beached in nearby Ardmucknish Bay. Days later, a Sunderland flying boat landing in the dark struck debris from the wreck floating in the water. The aircraft broke up and sank just off Maiden Island, and only one of its eleven crew survived.

Visiting

There is no ferry or landing. Maiden Island is easily seen from the Oban to Mull ferry, from the coastal walk to Dunollie Castle, and from Ganavan Sands. Spotting it counts as a sighting in your Island Passport.

Wildlife and area

The mouth of Oban Bay is a good place to look for Harbour Seal, Grey Seal and Harbour Porpoise, with Black Guillemot and Shag around the rocks. Other islands nearby include Kerrera, Creag Island, Eilean Musdile and Lady’s Rock.