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Port Ellen

Coordinates:55°38′N6°11′W/ 55.63°N 6.18°W/55.63; -6.18
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Port Ellen
Port Ellen
Port Ellen is located in Argyll and Bute
Port Ellen
Port Ellen
Location withinArgyll and Bute
Population810 (2022)[1]
OS grid referenceNR365455
Council area
Lieutenancy area
CountryScotland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townISLE OF ISLAY
Postcode districtPA42
Dialling code01496
PoliceScotland
FireScottish
AmbulanceScottish
UK Parliament
Scottish Parliament
List of places
UK
Scotland
55°38′N6°11′W/ 55.63°N 6.18°W/55.63; -6.18

Port Ellen(Scottish Gaelic:Port Ìlein) is a smalltownon the island ofIslay,inArgyll,Scotland.The town is named after the wife of its founder,Walter Frederick Campbell.[2]Its previous name,Leòdamas,is derived fromOld Norsemeaning "Leòd's Harbour".

Port Ellen is built around Leodamais Bay, Islay's main deep water harbour. It is the largest town on Islay, only slightly larger thanBowmoreand provides the mainferryconnection between Islay and the mainland, atKennacraig.ThePort Ellen Distillerywas first established in the 1820s and ceased production ofScotch whiskyin 1983. The largemaltingcontinues to produce for the majority of thedistilleries on Islay.[3][4]

History

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The area around Port Ellen has a variety of archaeological sites covering the Neolithic, Bronze and Iron Age periods. There are standing stones at Kilbride, a fort at Borraichill Mor, severalchambered cairns,and a chapel at Cill Tobar Lasrach.[3]Nearby lie the ruined remains of the 14th-centuryDunyvaig Castle,once a fortress of theMacDonald Lords of the Isles.[5]

The current town was planned byWalter Frederick Campbelland founded in 1821 originally intended to support the herring industry.[6]It was originally called Port Ellinor in honour of his wife, Lady Eleanor Charteris (d. 1832), daughter ofFrancis Douglas, 8th Earl of Wemyss.

Ferry service

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Preceding station Ferry Following station
Terminus Caledonian MacBrayne
IslayFerry
Kennacraig
Terminus Kintyre Express
April to October
Ballycastle

Notable people

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George Robertson, Baron Robertson of Port Ellen,Labour politician and former Secretary General ofNATOwas born in Port Ellen[7]on 12 April 1946.

See also

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References

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  1. ^"Mid-2020 Population Estimates for Settlements and Localities in Scotland".National Records of Scotland.31 March 2022.Retrieved31 March2022.
  2. ^The Oxford Companion to Scottish History.2007. p. 546.ISBN978-0-19-923482-0.
  3. ^ab"Port Ellen".Isle of Islay.Retrieved1 March2009.
  4. ^"Port Ellen Distillery".Islay Whisky.Retrieved1 March2009.
  5. ^"Port Ellen".Gazetteer for Scotland.Retrieved1 March2009.
  6. ^Walker, Frank Arneil (2005).The Buildings of Scotland. Argyll and Bute.Yale University Press. p. 552.ISBN9780300096705.
  7. ^"George Robertson, Baron Robertson of Port Ellen".Biographicon.com. Archived fromthe originalon 3 October 2011.Retrieved1 March2009.
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