Alt na h-Eilde

A minor road crosses the peninsula of The Oa eventually becoming unsurfaced and presumably unadopted. It reaches the RSPB reserve after a kilometre or so of rough motoring.

A path runs from the RSPB reserve at The Oa to the American Monument passing the low hill at the centre of the image on its south side.

Beyond the foreground rock rib the ridge continues to rise to reach the American Monument, raised by the American Red Cross to the memory of those lost in two WWI shipwrecks. The distant high point is Beinn Mhòr.

The American Monument at the Mull of Oa was raised by the American Red Cross as a memorial to troops lost when in WWI two ships, The Otranto and The Tuscania separately, were lost.

The boulder lines are indicated on OS maps, suggestive of walls but they're clearly not there as such now; perhaps they never were. If that's so it's hard to explain why effort would have been expended in their creation.

Beyond the heather lies Beinn Mhòr and Dùn Athad is to the right of the notch against the sea.

Dùn Athad is a striking feature of the south coast of The Oa. It's attached to the bulk of the peninsula by a narrow neck of land which is possible, with care, to cross safely so to reach the summit; there's not the vertical rock step that might be suspected from the image.

Grassed over dyke, Upper Killeyan.

Beside the path to the American Monument.

A waymarked path on the Mull of Oa.

The wet path at the Mull of Oa is being upgraded but there are still some very wet bits.

Sea cliffs on the south side of the Mull of Oa.

The west side of the Mull of Oa.

Good viewpoint for the north coast of Ireland and Kintyre.

The American Monument is on the tip of the Mull of Oa at the extreme southwest of the island of Islay. It commemorates the loss of two troop ships, The Tuscania and The Otranto in 1918. It actually overlooks the spot where the former of these sank on 5th February 1918 having been torpedoed by the German U-boat UB-77 while carrying American troops to Europe. She sank with the loss of 210 lives. The second tragedy struck eight months later, on 6th October, very near the end of WWI - when another troop ship the HMS Otranto collided with HMS Kashmir. This incident was even more costly in human lives, with the loss of 431 comprising 351 US servicemen and 80 British crew. The monument was erected in 1920 by the American Red Cross to commemorate these disasters and the souls who perished. It was designed by the architect Robert Walker and stands about 20m (65') tall perched on cliffs that rise 132m (433') above the sea. (The nearby trig pillar being recorded as at 131m) It resembles a lighthouse but has two bands of lighter coloured stones near its domed top. These bands have regular blank window-like niches around them. There is a large plaque set into the base of the monument on the landward side and above it is the head and wings of an American Eagle clutching a wreath in its talons. The plaque reads: Sacred to the Immortal Memory of those American Soldiers and Sailors who gave their lives for their country in the Wrecks of the Transports "Tuscania" and "Otranto" --- February 5th 1918 *** October 6th 1918 This Monument was Erected by The American Red Cross near to the spot where so many of The Victims of The Disasters Sleep in Everlasting Peace .... (in italics there follows this verse) .... On Fame's Eternal camping ground Their silent tents are spread While Glory keeps with solemn round The bivouac of the dead ----------------------------------------- On the seaward side is another smaller plaque encircled by a wreath - this reads: A Tribute from Woodrow Wilson President of The United States of America To the memory of his fellow citizens who gave their lives for their country in nearby waters 1918

View along the coast towards Beinn Mhòr from near the American Monument.

The west side of the headland with a view towards the Rhinos.

A fresh rockfall.