Isle of Tiree
| Gaelic name |  Tiriodh |
|---|---|
| Norse name | Tyrvist |
| Meaning of name | Gaelic for 'land of corn' |
| Location | |
 Tiree
Tiree shown within Argyll and Bute
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| OS grid reference | NL999458 |
| Coordinates | 56°30′N 6°53′W / 56.5°N 6.88°W |
| Physical geography | |
| Island group | Mull |
| Area | 7,834 hectares (30.2 sq mi) |
| Area rank | 17 |
| Highest elevation | Ben Hynish 141 metres (463 ft) |
| Administration | |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Country | Scotland |
| Council area | Argyll and Bute |
| Demographics | |
| Population | 653 |
| Population rank | 18 |
| Population density | 8.3 people/km2 |
| Largest settlement | Scarinish |
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| References | |
Tiree (Scottish Gaelic: Tiriodh, pronounced [ˈtʲʰiɾʲəɣ]) is the most westerly island in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The low-lying island, southwest of Coll, has an area of 7,834 hectares (30.2 square miles) and a population of around 650. The land is highly fertile, and crofting, alongside tourism, and fishing are the main sources of employment for the islanders. Tiree, along with Colonsay, enjoys a relatively high number of total hours of sunshine during the late spring and early summer compared to the average for the United Kingdom. Tiree is a popular windsurfing venue and is a proposed location for an offshore wind farm. Tiree is sometimes referred to as "Hawaii of the north"
Tiree is known for the 1st-century-AD Dùn Mòr broch, for the prehistoric carved Ringing Stone and for the birds of the Ceann a' Mhara headland.
Adomnan of Iona, recorded several stories relating to St Columba and the island of Tiree.
In one story, Columba warned a monk called Berach not to sail directly from Iona to Tiree, and instead to take a different route, and the monk went against his advice and sailed directly, but along the way a huge whale came out of the sea and almost destroyed their boat. Columba gave the same warning to Baithéne mac Brénaind who replied that both he and the whale were in God's hands, and Columba told him to go, because his faith would save him. And Baithene set off for Tiree, and when the whale appeared, he raised his hands and blessed it and it went back down into the ocean. In another story, Adomnan claimed there to be a monstery on the island of Tiree that was called Artchain. Adomnan wrote that an ordination to the priesthood of a sinful man named Áed Dub had taken place. Columba prophesied that this man would leave the priesthood and return to his sinful life, only to be killed violently, and that the abbot of the monastery on Tiree, who had a homosexual love for Áed and who had placed his hand on the head of Áed during the ordination, would have his hand rot away, and all these things supposedly happened as Columba prophesied. In another story, Adomnan claimed that Baithéne mac Brénaind asked Columba to pray for a good wind to get him to Tiree, and it was given to him, and he crossed the sea from Iona to Tiree with full sail. In another story, Columba instructed a particular monk to go the monastery on Tiree and do penance for seven years. In another story, Columba banished some demons from Iona who then went to the island of Tiree to afflict the monks there instead. Adomnan also records there being more than one monastery on Tiree in that time period, and that Baithéne mac Brénaind had been abbot of one of these monasteries.
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