Ulva (; ) is a small island in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland, off the west coast of Mull. It is separated from Mull by a narrow strait, and connected to the neighbouring island of Gometra by a bridge. Much of the island is formed from Cenozoic basalt rocks, which are formed into columns in places.
Ulva has been populated since the Mesolithic period, and there are various Neolithic remains on the island. The Norse occupation of the island in the Early Middle Ages has left few tangible artefacts but did bequeath the island its name, which is probably from Ulvoy, meaning "wolf island". Celtic culture was a major influence during both Pictish and Dalriadan times as well as the post-Norse period when the islands became part of modern Scotland. This long period, when Gaelic became the dominant language, was ended by the 19th-century Clearances. At its height, Ulva had a population of over 800, but by May 2019, this had declined to 5. Some increase in the number of residents was expected in future, with the re-population plan that was to commence in 2020 although by 2022 the resident population was just six.
Numerous well-known individuals have connections with the island including David Livingstone, Samuel Johnson and Walter Scott, who drew inspiration from Ulva for his 1815 poem, The Lord of the Isles. Wildlife is abundant: cetaceans are regularly seen in the surrounding waters and over 500 species of plant have been recorded. Today there is a regular ferry service and tourism is the mainstay of the economy. In March 2018 the Scottish Land Fund pledged £4.4 million towards a community buyout of the island, and the North West Mull Community Woodland Company took ownership of the island on 21 June 2018.
Geography
Ulva is roughly oval in shape with an indented coastline. It is aligned east-west, being long, and wide. Viewed on a small scale, Ulva and its neighbouring island Gometra appear to be a peninsula of the Isle of Mull, as they are separated from one another by narrow straits. Caolas Ulbha (the Sound of Ulva) at the east of the island is a narrow channel a few hundred metres across to Ulva Ferry on Mull. To its west, it is separated from Gometra by Gometra Harbour. To the south are Mull's headlands of Ardmeanach and the Ross of Mull. To the north, Loch Tuath (Loch-a-Tuath) separates it from another headland of Mull, and to the south east is Loch na Keal (Loch nan Ceall), and the island of Eorsa. There are two main bays on the south coast, Port a' Bhàta, and Tràigh Bhàn. On the north coast, there is the horseshoe bay of Lòn Bhearnuis (Bearnus lagoon), Soriby Bay and a few minor inlets.OS Landranger Sheet 48, Iona & West Mull, Ulva
The highest point of Ulva is Beinn Chreagach ("rocky mountain"), which reaches . It has a neighbour in Beinn Eoligarry the summit of which is above sea level. The island has a central ridge, with the highest ground running along its lateral axis - this ridge is somewhat broken by Gleann Glas and some other valleys. The south east peninsula tends to be lower lying, with a small plain along the south coast, consisting of raised beaches.
Parish and region Ulva was part of Argyll pre-1974, and Strathclyde Region after that. It is now part of Argyll and Bute.
The island, previously a quoad sacra parish with its own church, is in the civil parish of Kilninian and Kilmore (Cill Ninein, Chille Mhór), which also includes Gometra, Staffa, Little Colonsay and the north-west part of Mull. The minister traditionally preached in Kilninian and Kilmore on alternate Sundays. For more details, see the church section.
Surrounding islands
Gometra is a tidal island and connected to Ulva by a bridge. Little Colonsay and Inchkenneth (with Samalan Island) are to Ulva's south west and south east respectively. Further to the west are the Treshnish Isles, including the distinctive Bac Mòr, and beyond them, the larger islands of Coll and Tiree, with Gunna between them. To the south west are the islands of Staffa, of Fingal's Cave fame and Erisgeir. Much further to the south west is the island of Iona.
There are a number of smaller islets and rocks off Ulva. To the south and the east are Eilean na Creiche (listed as "Eilean na Craoibhe", on the island's guide's map.)Howard, J. & Jones, A., The Isle of Ulva: A Visitor's Guide, published by Ulva Estate, (2004) between Little Colonsay and Ulva. Off Port a' Bhàta are Geasgill Beag & Geasgill Mòr, between Ulva and Inchkenneth. To the south west is Sgeir na Sgeireadh, and Màisgeir due south of Gometra. These islands, along with Ulva itself, form part of the Loch na Keal National Scenic Area, one of the forty national scenic areas in Scotland, which are defined so as to identify areas of exceptional scenery and to ensure its protection from inappropriate development.
Geology
Ulva's interior is moorland, while the spectacular geological formations of the south coast, have been somewhat overshadowed by those of its neighbour Staffa. Nonetheless, they are still renowned in their own right. Around 60 million years ago, the region was volcanically active, with Ben More on Mull being the remnant of a volcano, and it was in this period that the famous rock formations of Staffa and the basaltic columns of "The Castles" on Ulva came into being. The lava flows are known as the "Staffa Magma Type member" and can also be seen on Mull at Carsaig, Ardtum, and near Tobermory on its east coast. They are particularly rich in silica. These were formed when the cooling surface of the mass of hot lava cracked in a hexagonal pattern in a similar way to drying mud cracking as it shrinks, and these cracks gradually extended down into the mass of lava as it cooled and shrank to form the columns which were subsequently exposed by erosion.Formation of basalt columns/pseudocrystals giantcrystals.strahlen.org. Retrieved 3 November 2007.
Much more recently, Ulva was subjected to glaciation, which dug out the fjords/sea lochs on its north and south east sides – Loch Tuath (meaning simply "north loch") and Loch na Keal, as well as softening some of its sharper edges.
The Hebridean coastline has been subject to significant post-glacial changes in sea level and the area is rising up at about per annum as isostatic equilibrium is regained. The relative drop in sea-level has left the highest raised sea cave in the British Isles on Ulva at A' Chrannag."The Geology of Mull" mull.zynet.co.uk. Retrieved 5 April 2007. At some point, Ulva was probably a west pointing headland of Mull, connected to Gometra and Eilean Dioghlum off the latter's west coast.
Etymology The derivation of "Ulva" is not certain, but is probably from the Old Norse for "wolf isle". Samuel Johnson deduced that it was probably not Gaelic in origin:
The English name "Ulva" is from the Scottish Gaelic, Ulbha, but this may have been corruption of Old Norse. It is debatable whether the Norse root Ulfr refers to an individual's name, or to the animal itself (possibly because of the shape of the island). The island's official website and guide book claims -
However ullamhdha is not Norse, but appears to be the Scottish Gaelic for "ready for it". Munro and MacQuarrie (1996) state that the scout said "ullamh dha" () in Gaelic, meaning the island "was ready for occupation".
The Old Statistical Account of Scotland mentions an alternative folk etymology, namely that Ulva comes from ullamh-àth () meaning 'ready ford' in Gaelic, that could refer either to the tidal stretch with Gometra, or the Sound of Ulva over which cattle were sometimes swum.Sinclair, Sir John of Ulbster First Statistical Account of Scotland (1791-2). General Assembly of the Church of Scotland.
History
Prehistory Ulva's human history goes back thousands of years. Its standing stones have been dated to 1500 BC, and a shell midden in Livingstones Cave dates to c. 5650 BC; it includes remains of flint and a human infant, as well as fauna more appropriate to the Ice Age, such as lemming and Arctic fox (Alopex lagopus)."The Isle of Ulva: History" . The Isle of Ulva-A world apart. Retrieved on 3 November 2007. The cave has been excavated since 1987 by archaeologists from the University of Edinburgh.
There are a number of dolmens and standing stones on the island, including some west of Cragaig, and one north east of Ormaig, as well as dùns such as Dùn Bhioramuill on the south east slope of A' Chrannag near Cùl a' Gheata above the cliffs, and Dùn Iosagain on the south west slope of Beinn Eolasary.
Dál Riata Ulva was anciently part of the border zone of the kingdom of Dál Riata,Keay, J. & Keay, J. (1994) Collins Encyclopaedia of Scotland, London: HarperCollins, and during this period the old Gaelic language first came to be spoken here. Presumably the area formed part of the Pictish lands, but they left little evidence behind. This region was amongst the first in northern Scotland to become Christianised. This is commemorated in some of the local place names which contain the word "Cill" or "Ceall", which is frequently anglicised as "Kil-" e.g. "Loch na Keal" is Loch nan Ceall, meaning "loch of the culdee cells", and Cille Mhic Eoghainn, which means literally "Monk's cell of the son of Ewan/MacEwan", or less literally "MacEwan's Church".
The Senchus fer n-Alban lists three main kin groups in Dál Riata in Scotland, with a fourth being added later.The Senchus is translated in Bannerman, Studies, pp. 47–49; previously published in Celtica, vols. 7 (1966) – 9 (1971); earlier translations in Anderson, ESSH, vol. 1, pp. cl–cliii and Skene, Chronicles of the Picts and Scots. The Cenél Loairn controlled parts of northern Argyll around the Firth of Lorne, most probably centred on Lorne but perhaps including the Isle of Mull, Morvern and Ardnamurchan, supposedly the descendants of Loarn mac Eirc.Broun, ""Dál Riata", notes that the Senchus treats the Cenél Loairn differently. In fact, it lists the three (actually four) thirds of the Cenél Loairn as the Cenél Shalaig (or Cenél Fergusa Shalaig), Cenél Cathbath, Cenél nEchdach and Cenél Muiredaig. Even the compiler of the Senchus doubts whether their eponymous founders Fergus Shalaig, Cathbad, Eochaid and Muiredach were all sons of Loarn mac Eirc. The chief place of the kingdom appears to have been at Dun Ollaigh, near Oban. The chief religious site may have been on Lismore, later the seat of the High Medieval bishop of Argyll.
Saint Columba (Colm Cille) visited Ulva in 563.
Norse period and Middle Ages Ulva later became part of the Norse Kingdom of the Isles. Rubha nan Gall ("point of the foreigners"), on the north coast of the island, may refer to the Norse.
Gometra and Inchkenneth nearby both have connections to Iona so it is not likely that Ulva had as well. Ulva came under the Diocese of Sodor and Man, and then the Diocese of Argyll.
Ulva came into the possession of the Clan MacQuarrie (an anglicised version of the surname MacGuaire) family over a thousand years ago, and they controlled it until the mid-19th century. The name MacGuaire is also anglicised as McGuire in Ireland. The English version has many variants, for examples, a 16th-century clan chief was Donn-slèibhe MacGuaire, possibly the ancestor of the Livingstone (MacDhùn-lèibhe) family. MacKenzie mentions that his name was anglicised in the following widely differing versions - "Dunslavie McVoirich" (either MacMhuirich (which becomes Currie or MacPherson) or MacMhurchaidh), "Dulleis MacKwiddy", "Dwnsleif MacKcurra" and "Dwnsleyf MaKwra". "Dunslav" was recorded as a forename in Ulva in 1693 as well.Currie, Jo (Jun 1998) Mull Family Names: For Ancestor Hunters Brown & Whittaker