IslayBlog.com -> 2008 -> Islay is a Part of Greenland?

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Thursday, 03/Jan/2008

Islay is a Part of Greenland?

In an Islay Blogging Roundup back in November I mentioned something I had to dig into a bit further. In this blog entry about Guardian Newspaper Repartitions Ireland Conor McCabe mentions the tiny island of Inishtrahull on the north coast of Ireland. Now you might wonder what this has to do with Islay and why I found it interesting:

A few years ago Bruichladdich Distillery created a bit of a stir when they researched the geology of Islay and discovered that Islay province in Peru and the Isle of Islay once were part of the same land mass. That was obviously a very very very long time ago. They have since built a partnership with Islay, Peru.

Now back to Inishtrahull Island, which is approx 35 miles west of Islay on the north east coast of the Republic of Ireland. What caught my eye was what something Conor mentioned and quoted:

However, the Gael needs to be on his toes regarding Inishtrahull. The mighty Greenlanders may be able also to stake a claim. “Geologists now believe that millions of years ago a small piece of Greenland broke off from its motherland, and thanks to plate tectonics, floated away from its parent, anchoring first at Islay and finally off Malin Head.”

The Wikipedia entry for Inishtrahull writes something very similar about what Roddy Muir, a Scottish geologist, thinks:

He believes that Inishtrahull, Islay and Colonsay broke off the southern tip of Greenland, Islay and Colonsay moving to the western area of Scotland and Inishtrahull moving 800 miles to the south east of Greenland off the Donegal Coast.

(Quoted Wikipedia revision for Inishtrahull)

Finding further information online seems to be difficult, although this page Lighthouses & Geology (there is a lighthouse on Inishtrahull) provides some good pointers. Unfortunately I haven't been able to find any further information, in particular Roddy Muir's work, easily available online.

However, assuming this historical geological link is correct may be Mark Reynier should also consider sending an invitation to Greenland? I'm sure they would appreciate some good Islay Single Malt whisky...

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