Ailsa Craig

Common card · No. 200530

Ailsa Craig (; Scottish Gaelic: Creag Ealasaid) is an island of 99 ha (1 km2; 245 acres) in the outer Firth of Clyde, 16 km (8+1⁄2 nmi) west of mainland Scotland. The island's microgranite has long been quarried to make curling stones. The now-uninhabited island comprises an eroded magmatic pluton formed during the same period of igneous activity as magmatic rocks on the nearby Isle of Arran. The island, colloquially known as "Paddy's Milestone" because it is halfway between Belfast and Glasgow, was a haven for Catholics during the Scottish Reformation in the 16th century, but is today a bird sanctuary, providing a home for huge numbers of gannets and an increasing number of puffins.

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