Ardrishaig

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Ardrishaig is a small coastal village in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It sits on Loch Gilp at the eastern entrance to the Crinan Canal and lies just south of Lochgilphead, with Oban being the nearest larger town. The Gaelic name Àird Driseig means “height of the small bramble” or “promontory of the small bramble.”

The village climbs a hillside and runs along the A83 from about 0.6 kilometres south of the junction with the A816. The Crinan Canal passes through Ardrishaig, with locks and a basin at its southern end. The harbour has two piers, a lighthouse, a slipway and a breakwater. The first pier was built in 1873. In the 1970s, some old lochside streets were demolished to make space for a car park, and today most trading happens in Lochgilphead. Each year about 30,000 tonnes of timber pass through the harbour, which can handle up to 150,000 tonnes.

Population is about 1,200 people (2020), with 1,283 people recorded in 2001. Facilities include a hotel, pubs, a church, a primary school (the current school building dates from 1986), a post office and several antique shops. There are two public telephone boxes and a public lavatory. Ardrishaig Primary serves the local area, and secondary education is through Lochgilphead Joint Campus.

The village is partly owned by the community through the Ardrishaig Community Council, and it is associated with the wind farm at Allt Dearg on the hill above Inverneill. Scottish Canals has an office by the canal basin.

Ardrishaig was a filming location for the TV series A Mug’s Game. It is part of the Argyll and Bute Council area, in the Mid Argyll ward. In the UK Parliament, it is in the Argyll, Bute and South Lochaber constituency, and in the Scottish Parliament it is in the Argyll and Bute constituency.

Notable people connected to Ardrishaig include John Smith, former Labour MP; James Chalmers, a pioneering missionary; and Sir St Clair Thomson, a surgeon, who all have ties to the village.