Lighthouse at the Mull of Kintyre

South of Campbeltown is the road to Southend and Mull of Kintyre. The direct road is about 8 miles to Southend with a further 8 miles of single track road to the lighthouse’. The coast road gives superb views down the Firth of Clyde beyond the rocky hump of Ailsa Craig to Ayrshire and Galloway.

Southend is a small village with marvellous sandy beaches and an 18 hole golf course. Close to the village is Dunaverty rock and St Columba's Footprints as spoken about in the history section.

The Beach At Dunaverty

The road from Southend out to the Mull of Kintyre is narrow and tortuous, but the journey is well worth the effort for the spectacular sea views and wild moorland (and possibly a Golden Eagle). Cars have to be left at the top of the cliffs above the lighthouse and the final part of the journey completed on foot; the walk is very steep. The views to Rathlin Island and the Antrim Coast of Northern Ireland, across the vicious tide races close to the shore are quite splendid, as long as Sir Paul McCartney’s ‘mist rolling in from the sea’ is elsewhere at the time.

Several aircraft have met their ends on the hills above the lighthouse, mainly during World War Two, but also more recently in 1994, when a military Chinook helicopter, carrying senior army and police security personnel from Northern Ireland flew into the hill at full speed in thick fog. All 29 on board were killed and the spot is marked by a cairn