Gunna

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Gunna
Location
Gunna
Gunna shown within Scotland.
OS grid reference:	NM100513
Names
Gaelic name:	Gunnaigh
Norse name:	Gunni
Meaning of name:	"Gunni's island"
Area and Summit
Area:	69 ha
Area rank (Scottish islands):	172
Highest elevation:	35 m
Population
Population (2001):	0
Groupings
Island Group:	Mull
Local Authority:	Argyll and Bute

References:	^[1]^[2]^[3]

Gunna (Gaelic: Gunnaigh) is an uninhabited island in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland.

1 Geography and geology
2 History
3 Wildlife
4 References

[edit] Geography and geology

Gunna lies between Coll and Tiree, closer to the former. It is 69 hectares (¼ sq. mile) in area, 35 metres (115 feet) at its highest point, and currently uninhabited. Nowhere is it wider than 500 metres (0.3 miles).

It is surrounded by various smaller islands including Eilean Frachlan (just off the north coast), Eilean nan Gamhna off the south coast, Soy Gunna to the north east, and Eilean Bhoramull, which is nearer Coll. It is surrounded by many rocks, especially in Gunna Sound (Scottish Gaelic: "Am Bun Dubh"^[4]), between it and Tiree.

According to Haswell-Smith, the island is:

bedrock of paragneiss schist with a light sandy soil. Metasediments in the west grade into undifferentiated gneiss in the east^[2]

[edit] History

"Gunni" is a Norse forename, but it is not recorded for which Gunni the island was named.

It was possibly an anchorite/culdee's island at some point - beside the old well, there is Port na Cille, which means Port of the Monk's Cell. Uamh Mòr, (big cave) on the north coast, could well be where the hermit sheltered.