Pictures

Above: Dungrianach from the jetty. Since the photo was taken the house on the right has had a new blue roof. But it's a really nice photo so we've kept it.

In the left foreground is the famous split granite boulder, Fingal's Rock. Fingal was a mythical giant who threw the rock in anger. Apparently. That would be the same Fingal who built the Giant's Causeway in Ireland (Fingal in this instance being an 18th century poetic adulteration of the Irish Fionn mac Cumhaill). Fingal's Cave is a continuation of this geological feature.

Yes, it's Fionnphort. Fionn is pronounced 'Finn' in Gaelic. However, in the case of the Fionn in Fionnphort, it means 'white' in relation to the sand. Fingal, as in the poeticised giant's name means 'white stranger'. Decoding mythology is more complicated and multi-layered than it you think. Oh, and in case you were wondering, there's no record of whether Fingal was angry as result of something to do with building problems on the causeway (isn't that ever the way with building work?). Anyway, we were talking about the boulder - remember?

Below: The view from the gate - your own private access down to the beach. That would be the beach with the white sand: Fionn. And the boulder, of course.