Summer Isles

This article is about the Summer Isles in Scotland. Bermuda and an area of islands including Jamaica have also been known as the Summer Isles.

"Summerisle" is also a fictional location in The Wicker Man

The Summer Isles (Scottish Gaelic: 'Na h-Eileanan Samhraidh') are an archipelago lying in the mouth of Loch Broom, in the Highland region of Scotland.

Geography

The only inhabited isle, Tanera Mòr is also the largest. It is home to a salmon farm, a café and a post office, which has operated its own local post and printed its own stamps since 1970. The island has no roads and the only recognisable path goes around the Anchorage, the sheltered bay on the east side of the island. Boats sail to the island from Achiltibuie.

Smaller islands

The Summer Isles from Ben Mòr Coigach

• Bottle Island
• Eilean Dubh
• Glas-leac Beag
• Glas-leac Mòr
• Horse Island
• Isle Martin
• Priest Island (Eilean a' Chlèirich)
• Isle Ristol
• Eilean Mullagrach
• Tanera Beag
• Càrn nan Sgeir

Conservation

The islands are part of a National Scenic Area.

Frank Fraser Darling, an important figure in the development of Scottish conservation, lived on Tanera Mòr for two years in the 1930s. His book, Island Years (published 1940), records his time in the Summer Isles, painting Priest Island as a place of great beauty as well as great wildlife.

Literature

• The pagan-cult island of Summerisle featured in the motion picture The Wicker Man (filmed 1973) is thought by some film critics to be set in this archipelago.
• The Summer Isles feature in a novella of the same name by Ian R. MacLeod

Footnotes

• Panorama of the Summer Isles (QuickTime required)

58°02′N 5°28′W