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Cairn na Burgh Beag

Scottish Gaelic name	Cairn na Burgh Beag
Old Norse name	Kiarnaborg
Meaning of name	(small) "fort on good land"
Location
Cairn na Burgh BeagCairn na Burgh Beag shown within Argyll and Bute
OS grid reference	NM308449
Coordinates	56°31′N 6°23′W / 56.52°N 6.38°W / 56.52; -6.38
Physical geography
Island group	Treshnish Isles
Area	1.2 ha
Highest elevation	22 m
Administration
Council area	Argyll and Bute
Country	Scotland
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Demographics
Population	0
References

Cairn na Burgh Beag is one of the Treshnish Isles in the Inner Hebrides, Scotland.

Cairn na Burgh Beag is the smaller of the two "Carnburgs" (as they are nicknamed) at the northeastern end of the Treshnish Isles in the Inner Hebrides. (The other is Cairn na Burgh Mòr.) Cairnburgh Castle, which guards the entrance to Loch Tuath on the west coast of Mull, is located on the larger of the pair. However, an unusual feature of the castle is that its defences straddle both islands: There is a small guard-house and a well on Cairn na Burgh Beag.

Both of these grassy islands are remnants of ancient lava flows, and both have a distinctive profile: They area flat-topped and trimmed with cliffs.

In 1343 there was a reference to the castle of Iselborgh, which was granted by David II to John of Islay, Lord of the Isles along with Cairn na Burgh Mòr and Dùn Chonnuill in the Garvellachs. Duncan and Brown concluded that Iselborg "certainly lay, with Cairnburgmore, in the Treshnish Group" and in 1980 the RCAHMS also believed that "there appear to be good grounds for accepting the view that Isleborgh is an early name" for Cairn na Burgh Beag. There are however other possible locations for this castle.

Footnotes

1. 2001 UK Census per List of islands of Scotland
2. Haswell-Smith, Hamish (2004). The Scottish Islands. Edinburgh: Canongate. ISBN 978-1-84195-454-7.
3. Ordnance Survey
4. "Overview of Cairn na Burgh Beg". Gazetteer for Scotland. Retrieved 21 August 2007.
5. "Cairnburgh Castle". Gazetteer for Scotland. Retrieved 30 May 2010.
6. Historic Environment Scotland. "Garvellachs, Dun Chonnuill (22374)". Canmore. Retrieved 17 August 2024.
7. Duncan & Brown 1959, p. 208.
8. Holliday 2017, p. 5.

References

• Duncan, A.A.M.; Brown, A.L. (1959). "Argyll and the Isles in the Earlier Middle Ages". Proceedings of the Society of the Antiquaries of Scotland. 90. Society of Antiquaries of Scotland: 192–220.
• Holliday, John (2017). "A Name Without A Place, A Place Without a Name" (PDF). Scarinish, Tiree: An Iodhlann: Tiree’s Historical Centre. Retrieved 23 August 2024.

56°31′10″N 6°22′35″W / 56.51944°N 6.37639°W / 56.51944; -6.37639

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