A rare place, wild, beautiful and of extraordinary ecological value and social interest. This island lies 6 miles off Ballycastle in Northeast Ireland and 16 miles from the Mull of Kintyre in Scotland. It is eight miles long and less than one mile wide. Shaped like a boot made with layers of basalt on limestone on the higher parts. It is surrounded by limestone and basalt sea cliffs reaching 470 ft in places. <br> Three lighthouses stand as monument to its wild coast while over 40 recorded shipwrecks lie in the depths of underwater cliffs, caves and a marine botanical paradise. The land, its history environment and community are inextricably interrelated and this has created a serve of place which can fire imagination and create that island magic and magnetism for which islands are famed.