Texa

Infobox Scottish island


latitude=55.61
longitude=-6.14
GridReference=NR392437
celtic name=
norse name=
meaning of name=
area=48 ha (119 acres)
area rank= 197
highest elevation=Ceann Garbh 48 m (157 feet)
Population=0
population rank=
main settlement=
island group=Islay
local authority=Argyll and Bute
references= [2001 UK Census per List of islands of Scotland] [http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/ Ordnance Survey] ] Haswell-Smith]

Texa is a small island directly south of Islay, in the Inner Hebrides, Scotland. It reaches a height of 157 feet at its highest point, Ceann Garbh. It is part of the parish of Kildalton on Islay. The distilleries of Laphroaig and Lagavulin are nearby on the Islay coast, as well as Port Ellen It is currently uninhabited, but is home to wild goats, as well as otters.

__TOC__

Geology

The island has its own fresh water supply at Tobar Moireig. The rock is mainly schist and some hornblende.

History

Church history

Texa has tentatively been identified as the "Oidecha Insula" written about by St Adomnan. The etymology of the name is disputed – it may represent either the Old Irish "tech" (house – "taigh" in modern Scottish Gaelic) or "Oideachd/Oideachas", a word for a religious seminary.

Adomnan mentions that St Cainneach (Kenneth) used "Oidecha Insula" as a stopping place on his journey between Iona and Ireland. Kenneth is said to have left his crozier on Iona on this journey, so St Columba blessed it, cast it into the sea, and it washed up on "Oidecha" where Kenneth found it.

Whether or not Texa is "Oidecha Insula", the island was, like many others round the Scottish coast, used as an ecclesiastical settlement, and the remains of a chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary can still be seen. This was built, probably on the site of an older one, in the late 14th century by Raghnall/Reginald of Islay, son of Iain/John. This is commemorated today in the name Bàgh na h-Eaglais (Church Bay) and Tobar Moireig ( [sic] Mary’s Well), which lies next to the anchorage. There are also many caves on the island, in which anchorites could live.

The shaft of a cross stood east of the chapel, commemorating Raghnall. It is now in a museum in Edinburgh.

Miscellaneous

In the 12th Century, the Norse fleet of Somerled anchored near to Texa. Islay was one of the centres of Norse culture in the Hebrides.

The island’s name has been recorded in a number of variants. In 1385, John of Fordun refers to Texa as "Helan ttexa" ("eilean" being an island in Gaelic). In 1614, it was referred to in a document as "Ilantasson", and was chartered by the crown to Sir John Campbell of Cawdor, confirmed by a Scottish Act of Parliament in 1626. In 1608, Andrew Knox, bishop of the Isles wrote from "Ilintexa".

In 1625, Father Cornelius Ward, a Franciscan missionary reported that there were twenty nine people living on the island, and most of them were Roman Catholic. (The island was inhabited until the early 19th century.) The six who were not Catholic, he converted. The Statistical Account, a century and a half later, records that "formerly [the inhabitants] were wont to bury those who were of the popish religion" in the chapel, but that no "Texans" were Catholic anymore.

Footnotes