Isle Maree

It has the ruins of a chapel, graveyard, holy well, and holy tree on it, believed to be the 8th-century hermitage of Saint Maol Rubha (d. 722), a missionary from Bangor Abbey in Gaelic Ireland who founded the Celtic Church monastery of Applecross () in 672. The island contains ancient stands of oak, holly and other trees not found on the other islands in the loch. The waters of the loch were thought to be a holy well with curative effects. For example, as recently as the 18th century, being towed sunwise three times around the island behind a boat followed each time by a dip in the loch waters was believed to impart a cure for mental illness through St. Mael Ruba's intercession. It is also…