Ailsa Craig (; ) is an island of in the outer Firth of Clyde, west of mainland Scotland. The island's microgranite has long been quarried to make curling stones. The now-uninhabited island comprises an eroded magmatic pluton formed during the same period of igneous activity as magmatic rocks on the nearby Isle of Arran.
The island, colloquially known as "Paddy's Milestone" because it is halfway between Belfast and Glasgow, was a haven for Catholics during the Scottish Reformation in the 16th century, but is today a bird sanctuary, providing a home for huge numbers of gannets and an increasing number of puffins.
Etymology The name Ailsa comes from the Gaelic Allasa(n), earlier Aldasain, which is of obscure origin. It has been suggested that it represents a contraction of allt Shasann, meaning "cliff of the Saxons" (cf. airer Saxan, "coastland of the Saxon", a name applied to southwestern Scotland in an early Gaelic text). The "Saxons" in question would be the Northumbrians, whose territory at one time extended as far north as the Forth and Clyde.
The island is known in modern Gaelic as Creag Ealasaid (Elizabeth's rock) or Ealasaid a' Chuain (Elizabeth of the ocean); these, however, represent folk etymological alterations of Allasa, the "true name" of the island, which remained in use in Arran, the nearest Gaelic-speaking district, into the 20th century. The same applies to Carraig Alastair (Alexander's rock), an Irish name for Ailsa Craig.
The island is sometimes known as "Paddy's Milestone",PADDY'S MILESTONE 1947 Film . National Library of Scotland. being approximately the halfway point of the sea journey from Belfast to Glasgow, a traditional route of emigration for many Irish labourers going to Scotland to seek work. The Bass Rock is sometimes nicknamed "the Ailsa Craig of the East", although its prominence in the Firth of Forth is not as great as that of Ailsa Craig in the Firth of Clyde.
Placenames A number of features and places on the island have acquired names, Gaelic in most cases, such as Craigna'an (cliff of birds); Trammins (place of Elder trees); Balvar (big round cliff); Garryloo (rough hill) and Ashydoo (black hill).Lawson (1895) p. 9 The Swine Cave may take its name from a time when the Earl of Cassillis received part of his rent in hogs from the island.Lawson (1895) p. 14
Geography and geology
The island is approximately west of Girvan; it is Haswell-Smith (2004) p.3 in circumference and rises to a height of . The island is part of the administrative district of South Ayrshire, in the ancient parish of Dailly.
Geologically, Ailsa Craig comprises the remains of a Palaeogene pluton. Its prominence is due to the microgranite's hardness, making it more resistant to erosion than the surrounding Permian and Triassic sedimentary rocks into which it was intruded. The microgranite is itself intruded by a series of olivine dolerite dykes. Ailsa Craig, along with neighbouring Arran, is part of the North Atlantic Igneous Province, a widespread system of magmatic rocks formed during the initial stages of the opening of the North Atlantic Ocean. Boulders of distinctive Ailsa Craig microgranite known as erratics were transported by glaciers as far afield as County Donegal and Pembrokeshire.
The microgranite's unusual low-aluminium composition and crystalline texture make it particularly hard and resistant to impact, making this rock a favoured material for the manufacture of curling stones.Ailsa Craig Retrieved 17 October 2007 The "blue hone" variety is now used for the lower part of the stone which contacts the ice (the running band) while the "common green" variety is used to make the body of the stone (including the striking band). A third variety, "red hone", is similar to blue hone but has now been exhausted.
Facilities The only surviving buildings on the island are the lighthouse on its east coast facing the Scottish mainland, a ruined towerhouse built by Clan Hamilton to protect the area from Philip II of Spain in the 16th century, and the old quarry manager's house that is used by the RSPB.
The island has a fresh-water spring but no electricity, gas, sewage or telephone connections.
The chief well on the island lies above 'the Loups', and this was used by the Northern Lighthouse Board which built a cistern there and piped the water to the lighthouse complex. The 'Horse Well' was located behind the gasworks; the 'Castle Well' stands above Ailsa Castle, and finally the Garry Loch sits higher up and once supplied water to the tenant's cottage.Lawson (1895) p. 62
Fishermen seem to have used the island for centuries, first being noted in 1549Lawson (1895) p.11 and it is recorded that they even at one time slept beneath sails stretched over hollows on the beach.Lawson (1895)p.15
A row of fishermen's cottages was under construction in the 1840s. However, the main developer died, and the project was abandoned, with the area used instead as a walled kitchen garden until the gasworks was built.Lawson (1895) p. 34
Owners The island seems to have been a part of the Barony of Knockgarron that lay in the Parish of Dailly and the then holder, Duncan of Turnberry, Earl of Carrick, established the abbey of Crossraguel and endowed it with the island of Ailsa Craig to "provide for their table".Lawson (1895) p.20 The barony passed through several hands until it became the property of the third Earl of Cassillis in 1548.
Apart from sold to the Northern Lighthouse Board in 1883,Lawson (1895) p.21 since the 16th century the island has belonged to the Earls of Cassillis. In 1831, Archibald Kennedy, 12th Earl of Cassillis, was created the first Marquess of Ailsa, taking the title from Ailsa Craig.
In May 2011, Charles Kennedy, 8th Marquess of Ailsa, put the island up for sale with an asking price of £2,500,000. An alcoholic, Lord Ailsa had inherited only the peerages and the island, which his father had believed he would never sell."David Craig, 9th Marquess of Ailsa", in Eleanor Doughty, Heirs and Graces: A History of the Modern British Aristocracy (Random House, 2025), p. 208 As of March 2013, it was unsold and the price was "offers over £1,500,000"."Ailsa Craig island in Firth of Clyde put up for sale" . BBC News. Retrieved 1 March 2013. It was reported in December 2013 that an unnamed environmental trust had placed a formal bid, and in April 2014 the National Trust for Scotland was reported to be considering a bid. In the event, to save the island for the family, David Kennedy, the future 9th Marquess bought it. As of 2020, the island was still owned by the 9th Marquess and was leased to the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds until 2050.
Four cottages, a shed, a railway, a winch house, the main pier, and an area of adjacent land are now in the ownership of the Scottish Indian businessman Bobby Sandhu. Mr Sandhu purchased this registered title buildings and land for £85,000 from the Argyll Group plc. Mr Sandhu stated he wished to build a five-star hotel on the land (Title: AYR24617). However, the planning system apparently prevented this development.
History
In 1590 the shipping of the Clyde was disrupted by pirates who were said to be Highlanders, .Paterson (1863) p. 14
Margaret Girvan ran a tearoom in a wooden building that stood next to the tacksman's cottage,Tait, (2005) p.13 famed for its pristine white table cloths and fresh scones. Girvan kept goats in stone-built goat rees or pens on the good grazing near Garry Loch. The feral billy goats were wont to interfere with these nanny goats and this was another reason for their demise.
An annual hunt of the solan geese or gannets took place in the days of Robert Burns as the flesh was considered a delicacy.Purdie p.22 Robert Burns's maternal uncle Samuel Burns was involved in the solan goose trade.
Ailsa Castle The high ruins of a 3-storey castle that stands on the eastern side of the island was built in the late 1500s by the Hamilton Family to protect the island from King Philip II of Spain."Ailsa Craig, Castle . Canmore. Retrieved 15 November 2014. The island was used as a prison during the 18th and 19th centuries. The castle has two vaulted storeys and an oven is located in a cellar with evidence of a spiral stairway that once ran to the top of the tower. Three cinquefoils arranged in a 'V' shape are carved on the tower and indicate that the Hamiltons were linked with the structure. There are indications of an adjoining building that ran to the north.Tait (2005) p.37
Spanish invasion Ailsa Craig was a haven for Roman Catholics during the Scottish Reformation. In about 1587 the prominent Catholic Lord Maxwell landed on Ailsa while attempting to escape his pursuers and finding a fishing boat he attempted to reach Crossraguel Abbey, but was captured.Lawson (1895), Page 27 In 1597 another Catholic supporter, Hugh Barclay of Ladyland, took possession of Ailsa Craig which he was intent on using as a place of safety for Catholics to practise their faith, for provisioning and stopping off point for a Spanish invasion which would re-establish the Catholic faith in Scotland and a storehouse for provisioning the Catholic Earl of Tyrone in Ireland.Lawson (1895), Page 29
Hugh was however discovered by The Rev. Andrew Knox, a Protestant minister (who later became both Lord Bishop of the Isles and Lord Bishop of Raphoe). Barclay thereafter deliberately drowned himself in the seaPennant, Pages 217–218 or did so accidentally whilst trying to escape.Robertson, George (1823). A Genealogical Account of the Principal Families in Ayrshire, more particularly in Cunninghame. Vol.1. Pub. Irvine: Cunninghame press. pp. 72–73. Another version states that Andrew Knox lay in wait for Hugh with nineteen others and ambushed him at the shingle beach with the result that he attempted to defend himself until he was forced back into the sea and drowned.Lawson (1895) p. 30
Smuggling Beneath the Main Craig at the southern end of the island and above sea level is a cave named after the supposed smuggler MacNall. When the cave was being cleared of guano many years ago, two stone coffins were found, both containing human bones. The Rev. Roderick Lawson (1831–1907) thought that one of the interments might be MacNall himself, but no details of this individual have yet come to light. Ailsa Craig would have been an ideal place for the temporary hiding of contraband goods.Taot. p. 66
Chapels The island had two chapels and Thomas Pennant who visited Ailsa Craig in 1772 recorded that the ruins of a small chapel were located near the landing placePennant, P. 217 and that another chapel (which he did not visit) was located on the summit of the island and was probably used by seamen to pray for safe voyages and returns.Pennant, Page 218 Lawson sees this second chapel as being a myth.Lawson (1895), Page 16 When the lighthouse was being constructed, four stone coffins were found that may well have been associated with the first mentioned chapel, two at the tenant's house and two at the gasholder site.Lawson (1895), Page 34 The monks of Crossraguel Abbey once held the island and "places of prayer" are therefore to be expected especially with a garrisoned castle nearby; even the diminutive Lady Isle off Troon once had a chapel. The chapel was first mentioned, along with the castle, in 1580 by Sir James Balfour.Lawson (1895) p.12
Lighthouse, foghorns and gasworks The Lighthouse was built between 1883 and 1886 by Thomas Stevenson; it is owned by the Northern Lighthouse Board.
The lighthouse was automated in 1990 and converted to solar electric power in 2001; the island has been uninhabited since automation in 1990.Northern Lighthouse Board – Automation of lighthouse Retrieved on 28 January 2008 Ailsa Craig and its lighthouse feature extensively in Peter Hill's 2003 book Stargazing: Memoirs of a Young Lighthouse Keeper.