Where's Islay?

Islay (latitude 55 45N; longitude 06 16W) lies at the entrance to the Firth of Lorn to the west side of the Kintyre peninsula, roughly 25 miles north of Northern Ireland.

With its neighbouring islands of Colonsay and Jura and some smaller isles, it forms the Islay group; a distinctive set of islands which share cultural and historical as well as geographic links.

The island is 40 km wide by 25 km long; with a heavily-indented coastline and the deep bays of Loch Gruinart and Loch Indaal, the land area amounts about 600 km2. These bays, arranged back to back, almost divide the island in two.

A map showing Islay's location on the west coast of Scotland.