Kirkwall

The name Kirkwall comes from the Norse name {{lang|non|Kirkjuvágr}} meaning "church bay",[https://www.northlinkferries.co.uk/orkney-blog/orkney-place-names/ "The Place Names of Orkney"]. NorthLink Ferries. Retrieved 29 June 2024. the settlement having been established by the Norsemen in the 11th century.{{sfn|Haswell-Smith|2004|p=356}} As late as 1525 the name is recorded as Kirkevaag.{{sfn|MacBain|1922|p=114}} This became in time "Kirkwaa"{{sfn|Jakobsen|1897|pp=114-15}} and then eventually Kirkwall - but how the second syllable came to be spelled "wall" is not certain. MacBain quotes F. W. L. Thomas: "How, I ask, could vágr come to be represented by wall? Whence came the ll? Was it that Scottish immigrants finding the sound of vá represented it in writing by 'wall,' the ll at first being silent?"{{sfn|MacBain|1922|p=114}}{{efn|Jakobsen writes that the name is "erroneously spelt 'Kirkwall' ".{{sfn|Jakobsen|1897|pp=114-15}}}}

The town was first mentioned in the Orkneyinga saga in the year 1046, when it was recorded as the residence of {{lang|non|Rögnvald Brusason|italic=no}}, the Earl of Orkney, who was killed by his uncle Thorfinn the Mighty.

In 1486, King James III of Scotland elevated Kirkwall to the status of a royal burgh, and in time it would return a Burgh commissioner to the Parliament of Scotland.

After Union with England it combined with other towns to form the Northern Burghs, sending a single MP to Parliament. In 1918, the Parliamentary Burgh of Kirkwall merged into Orkney and Shetland.

On the western edge of the town, surrounded by Hatston Industrial Estate, there is a prehistoric monument, known as the "Grain Earth House" (see Historic Scotland). It is a short, low, stone-walled passage, deep underground, leading to a small pillared chamber. This kind of earth house (or "souterrain") is characteristic of the Northern Isles (although the Grain Earth House is unusually deep below ground). It was originally connected to a surface dwelling, which has since disappeared. The purpose of these Iron Age structures remains unknown. Further west, towards Grimbister, there is a similar structure, known as Rennibister Earth House.{{Historic Environment Scotland|num=SM90245|desc=Rennibister, souterrain|access-date=22 February 2019}}

Kirkwall is the administrative centre of Orkney, and the site of the headquarters of both Orkney Islands Council and NHS Orkney.{{cite web|url=https://www.ohb.scot.nhs.uk/about-us|title=About us|publisher=NHS Orkney|access-date=28 September 2022}}

Although sometimes referred to as "The City and Royal Burgh of Kirkwall"{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ISANAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA2|title=Glimpses of Kirkwall and its people in the olden time|page=2|first= William R.|last= Mackintosh |year= 1887|publisher=J. Anderson}} Kirkwall is not technically a city.{{efn|See city status in the United Kingdom. Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Elgin, Glasgow and Perth were the only burghs listed as cities in 1972.The Municipal Year Book 1972}}

Kirkwall is {{convert|130|mi|km|sigfig=2|abbr=off}} north of Aberdeen and {{convert|528|mi|km|sigfig=3|abbr=on}} north of London. It is situated on the northern coast of Mainland, Orkney, with its harbours in the bay of Kirkwall to the north, and with Scapa Flow {{convert|1.4|mi|km|abbr=on}} to the south. Its parish, St Ola, forms the isthmus between Firth and Holm.

It is the most populous island settlement in Scotland.{{cite web|url=https://britishheritage.com/travel/kirkwall-capital-orkneys|title=Kirkwall: the bustling capital of the Orkneys|date=19 August 2022|newspaper=British Heritage Travel|access-date=28 September 2022}}

Kirkwall has an oceanic climate (Cfb), with a strong maritime influence on its temperature. As a result, it is generally cooler than the rest of the UK in the summer. The exception is that Kirkwall tends to be warmer than Shetland, being closer to mainland Scotland and thus further south.{{cite web |url=https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00298818/document |title=Updated world map of the Köppen-Geiger climate classification |author=M. C. Peel, B. L. Finlayson, T. A. Mcmahon |work=Hydrology and Earth System Sciences Discussions, European Geosciences Union 4 (2) |pages=439–473|date=2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190710131727/https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00298818/document |archive-date=10 July 2019}}

{{Weather box

|location = Kirkwall, 26m asl, 1991–2020 normals, Extremes 1951–

|metric first = Yes

|single line = Yes

|Jan record high C = 12.2

|Feb record high C = 12.8

|Mar record high C = 18.9

|Apr record high C = 21.0

|May record high C = 22.0

|Jun record high C = 22.8

|Jul record high C = 25.6

|Aug record high C = 24.8

|Sep record high C = 22.8

|Oct record high C = 19.4

|Nov record high C = 14.5

|Dec record high C = 12.9

|year record high C = 25.6

|Jan avg record high C = 9.9

|Feb avg record high C = 10.4

|Mar avg record high C = 12.3

|Apr avg record high C = 14.5

|May avg record high C = 17.4

|Jun avg record high C = 19.1

|Jul avg record high C = 20.6

|Aug avg record high C = 20.1

|Sep avg record high C = 18.7

|Oct avg record high C = 15.1

|Nov avg record high C = 12.4

|Dec avg record high C = 11.0

|year avg record high C = 21.5

|Jan high C = 6.6

|Feb high C = 6.8

|Mar high C = 8.0

|Apr high C = 9.9

|May high C = 12.2

|Jun high C = 14.2

|Jul high C = 16.1

|Aug high C = 16.2

|Sep high C = 14.4

|Oct high C = 11.6

|Nov high C = 8.9

|Dec high C = 7.0

|year high C =

|Jan mean C = 4.5

|Feb mean C = 4.5

|Mar mean C = 5.4

|Apr mean C = 7.0

|May mean C = 8.5

|Jun mean C = 11.3

|Jul mean C = 13.2

|Aug mean C = 13.4

|Sep mean C = 11.8

|Oct mean C = 9.3

|Nov mean C = 6.7

|Dec mean C = 4.8

|year mean C =

|Jan low C = 2.3

|Feb low C = 2.1

|Mar low C = 2.7

|Apr low C = 4.1

|May low C = 5.8

|Jun low C = 8.4

|Jul low C = 10.3

|Aug low C = 10.5

|Sep low C = 9.2

|Oct low C = 7.0

|Nov low C = 4.5

|Dec low C = 2.6

|year low C =

|Jan avg record low C = -1.6

|Feb avg record low C = -1.9

|Mar avg record low C = -1.7

|Apr avg record low C = -0.3

|May avg record low C = 1.1

|Jun avg record low C = 4.3

|Jul avg record low C = 6.3

|Aug avg record low C = 6.3

|Sep avg record low C = 4.4

|Oct avg record low C = 2.2

|Nov avg record low C = 0.3

|Dec avg record low C = -1.7

|year avg record low C = -3.2

|Jan record low C = −7.8

|Feb record low C = −7.0

|Mar record low C = −6.8

|Apr record low C = −4.9

|May record low C = −2.1

|Jun record low C = 1.0

|Jul record low C = 0.0

|Aug record low C = 3.7

|Sep record low C = 0.5

|Oct record low C = -1.6

|Nov record low C = −5.5

|Dec record low C = −7.6

|year record low C = −7.8

|precipitation colour = green

| Jan precipitation mm = 114.7

| Feb precipitation mm = 96.2

| Mar precipitation mm = 86.7

| Apr precipitation mm = 59.2

| May precipitation mm = 53.8

| Jun precipitation mm = 55.9

| Jul precipitation mm = 58.2

| Aug precipitation mm = 73.0

| Sep precipitation mm = 90.7

| Oct precipitation mm = 119.8

| Nov precipitation mm = 126.1

| Dec precipitation mm = 114.3

| year precipitation mm =

|unit precipitation days= 1.0 mm

|Jan precipitation days = 20.4

|Feb precipitation days = 17.6

|Mar precipitation days = 16.9

|Apr precipitation days = 14.1

|May precipitation days = 11.9

|Jun precipitation days = 10.8

|Jul precipitation days = 12.1

|Aug precipitation days = 12.6

|Sep precipitation days = 15.2

|Oct precipitation days = 19.1

|Nov precipitation days = 20.5

|Dec precipitation days = 19.9

|year precipitation days =

|Jan sun = 34.1

|Feb sun = 64.0

|Mar sun = 102.0

|Apr sun = 144.3

|May sun = 193.5

|Jun sun = 145.0

|Jul sun = 138.8

|Aug sun = 134.6

|Sep sun = 107.8

|Oct sun = 76.3

|Nov sun = 44.0

|Dec sun = 26.1

|year sun = 1210.4

|source 1 = Met Office{{cite web | url = https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/research/climate/maps-and-data/uk-climate-averages/gfmzqh0rc| title = Kirkwall Airport (Orkney Islands) averages | publisher = Met Office | access-date = 29 September 2023 }}

|source 2 = Royal Dutch Meteorological Institute/KMNI{{cite web | url = http://eca.knmi.nl/utils/mapserver/anomaly.php?indexcat=**&indexid=TXx&year=2005&seasonid=18&create_image=true&minx=-617738.09523815&miny=-3936547.6190476&maxx=248928.57142858&maxy=-3286547.6190476&MapSize=560%2C420&imagewidth=560&imageheight=420&mainmap.x=285&mainmap.y=165&CMD=QUERY_POINT&CMD=QUERY_POINT#bottom | title = Kirkwall Extremes | publisher = KNMI | access-date = 3 November 2011 | archive-url = https://archive.today/20130222190033/http://eca.knmi.nl/utils/mapserver/anomaly.php?indexcat=**&indexid=TXx&year=2005&seasonid=18&create_image=true&minx=-617738.09523815&miny=-3936547.6190476&maxx=248928.57142858&maxy=-3286547.6190476&MapSize=560,420&imagewidth=560&imageheight=420&mainmap.x=285&mainmap.y=165&CMD=QUERY_POINT&CMD=QUERY_POINT%23bottom | archive-date = 22 February 2013 | url-status = dead | df = dmy-all }}{{cite web|url=https://www.ogimet.com/cgi-bin/gsynres?lang=en&ind=03017&ano=2018&mes=7&day=1&hora=22&min=0&ndays=30|title=Synop report summary|first=G. Ballester|last=Valor|website=www.ogimet.com|access-date=1 July 2018|archive-date=13 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191213171534/https://www.ogimet.com/cgi-bin/gsynres?lang=en&ind=03017&ano=2018&mes=7&day=1&hora=22&min=0&ndays=30|url-status=live}} Infoclimat {{cite web|url=https://www.infoclimat.fr/climatologie/annee/1991/kirkwall-airport/valeurs/03017.html|title=Climatologie de l'année à Kirkwall Airport|publisher=Infoclimat|language=fr|access-date=29 September 2023}}

}}

The population of Kirkwall is continuously on the rise. The population rose from 6,205 in 2001 to 9,293 in 2011 to reach an estimated 10,020 in 2020.{{cite web |title=Scotland's Census - Area Overview |url=https://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/search-the-census/#/explore |access-date=5 August 2023}}{{Scotland settlement population citation}}

Kirkwall harbour with nearly {{convert|1|km|mi|sigfig=1}} of quay edge is the second commercial hub for Orkney after Hatston. There is a Marina, and support for fishing and dive vessels.{{cite web |url=https://www.orkneyharbours.com/port-authority/ports/kirkwall |title=Kirkwall Port |publisher=Orkney Islands Council Harbour Authority |access-date=9 August 2018 |archive-date=10 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180810011342/https://www.orkneyharbours.com/port-authority/ports/kirkwall |url-status=live }} After extensive work on harbour facilities, the town has become a popular cruise ship stop, with several ships arriving each week in the season. This has added to the prosperity of the town and allowed a thriving sector of independently owned shops. Each year now, 140 cruise ships visit Kirkwall and Stromness.{{cite web |url=https://www.orkneyharbours.com/sectors/cruise-ships |title=Cruise Ships |publisher=Orkney Islands Council Harbour Authority |access-date=2017-09-12 |archive-date=12 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170912192731/https://www.orkneyharbours.com/sectors/cruise-ships |url-status=live }}

Weaving in Orkney took place from Viking times, with John Sclater & Co involved in Tweed production in Kirkwall in the 1970s. They used the brand names Norsaga and Jarltex.{{cite journal |journal=Scottish Industrial History |year=1981 |volume=4 |url=https://www.gla.ac.uk/media/media_499984_en.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=10 August 2018 |archive-date=11 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180811033147/https://www.gla.ac.uk/media/media_499984_en.pdf |url-status=live }}{{page needed|date=February 2020}}{{cite news |last1=Henderson |first1=Michelle |title=Orkney tweed? Harris had no production monopoly in the islands as academics find history of weaving the distinctive cloth in Orkney |url=https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/news/1406516/orkney-tweed/ |work=Press and Journal |date=February 6, 2018 |access-date=2 February 2020 |archive-date=2 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200202132425/https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/news/1406516/orkney-tweed/ |url-status=live }}

File:Orkney Library and Archive in Kirkwall.jpg

The Orkney Library and Archive is in Kirkwall. Kirkwall also has the most northerly of the world's Carnegie libraries, which was opened by Andrew Carnegie and his wife in 1909. The building survives, although the library has since moved to a larger building on Junction Road which opened in August 2003.{{Cite web |url=https://www.orkney.gov.uk/Service-Directory/S/orkney-library-and-archive.htm |title=Orkney Library and Archive |website=Orkney Islands Council |access-date=9 April 2022}}

The town has two museums, the larger being The Orkney Museum in Tankerness House, which contains items of local historical interest within one of Scotland's best-preserved 16th-century town-houses.{{Cite web|title=The Orkney Museum|url=https://www.orkney.gov.uk/Service-Directory/S/orkney-museum.htm|url-status=live|access-date=2021-08-06|website=Orkney Islands Council|archive-date=7 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210807005717/https://www.orkney.gov.uk/Service-Directory/S/orkney-museum.htm}} It is a Category A listed building Scotland. The prehistoric, Pictish and Viking collections are of international importance. The other museum is the Orkney Wireless Museum, dealing with the history of radio and recorded sound.{{cite web| url=http://www.orkneywirelessmuseum.org.uk/| title=Orkney Wireless Museum| publisher=Orkney Wireless Museum| accessdate=22 August 2009}} It is located in a Category C listed building, possibly the former harbour master's office, on Junction Road.{{cite web |title=Orkney Wireless Museum, 1 Junction Road, Kirkwall |url=https://britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/200393113-orkney-wireless-museum-1-junction-road-kirkwall-kirkwall |website=British Listed Buildings |access-date=22 April 2023}}

Orkney Tourist Board is located in an 18th-century Category B listed building on Broad Street.{{cite web |title=Orkney Tourist Board, 6 Broad Street, Kirkwall |url=https://britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/200381517-orkney-tourist-board-6-broad-street-kirkwall-kirkwall |website=British Listed Buildings |access-date=22 April 2023}}

There is a Royal National Lifeboat Institution lifeboat station.{{cite web|url=https://www.orcadian.co.uk/kirkwall-lifeboat-called-fishing-vessel-2/|title=Kirkwall Lifeboat called out to fishing vessel – The Orcadian Online|date=2 March 2017|access-date=4 August 2018|archive-date=4 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180804141054/https://www.orcadian.co.uk/kirkwall-lifeboat-called-fishing-vessel-2/|url-status=live}}

One of the major annual events in the town is the Ba Game, held each Christmas Day and New Year's Day between the Uppies and the Doonies, each team representing one half of the town.{{cite news |url=http://blog.washingtonpost.com/why-we-compete/2007/12/tradition.html |title=Tradition: The Old Ba' Game |first=Eli |last=Saslow |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=2007-12-30 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110523093047/http://blog.washingtonpost.com/why-we-compete/2007/12/tradition.html |archive-date=2011-05-23 }}

The composer Peter Maxwell Davies was among a group which founded the annual St Magnus International Festival which is centred on Kirkwall each midsummer.{{cite web |title=About |url=https://www.stmagnusfestival.com/about |website=St Magnus International Festival, Orkney, Scotland |access-date=2 February 2020 |archive-date=2 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200202132433/https://www.stmagnusfestival.com/about |url-status=live }} Notable music acts such as the Wrigley Sisters and Bryttania formed in Kirkwall.

Orkney Theatre, a 384-seat venue, was opened in 2014 next to Kirkwall Grammar School in The Meadows. It has an orchestra pit which can be made available for use by removing two rows of seats.{{cite web|url=http://www.orkneytheatre.co.uk/|title=HOME|website=Orkney Theatre|access-date=10 August 2018|archive-date=11 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180811033423/http://www.orkneytheatre.co.uk/|url-status=live}}

Kirkwall Harbour can be seen in The Highlands and Islands – A Royal Tour, a 1973 documentary about Prince Charles' visit to the Highlands and Islands, directed by Oscar Marzaroli.[http://ssa.nls.uk/film.cfm?fid=2380 "Full record for 'Highlands and Islands – A Royal Tour'"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110725184319/http://ssa.nls.uk/film.cfm?fid=2380 |date=25 July 2011 }} Scottish Screen Archive. Retrieved 21 June 2010.

Scottish film-maker Margaret Tait was born in Kirkwall, and many of her films (in particular the Aspects of Kirkwall series) are set there.{{cite web|url=http://www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/poetry/poets/margaret-tait|title=Margaret Tait (1918 - 1999)|publisher=Scottish Poetry Library|access-date=25 August 2018}}

Long-running The Simpsons character Groundskeeper Willie was born in Kirkwall.{{cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.com/travel/destinations/uk-travel/scotland-travel/groundskeeper-willie-is-from-orkney-and-he-was-torn-apart-by-uppies-and-doonies-3h8khq7dfld|title=Groundskeeper Willie is from Orkney ... and he was 'torn apart' by Uppies and Doonies|date=February 3, 2012|access-date=August 19, 2020|archive-date=21 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210121191852/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/groundskeeper-willie-is-from-orkney-and-he-was-torn-apart-by-uppies-and-doonies-3h8khq7dfld|url-status=live}}

File:Kirkwall Town Hall.jpg exterior]]

File:Broad road in Kirkwall in summer 2012 (2).JPG

Kirkwall has many 17th–18th-century houses and other structures in the local vernacular style. Kirkwall Town Hall was completed in 1884.{{Historic Environment Scotland|num= LB45980|desc=Broad Street, Town Hall |access-date=28 September 2022}}

Kirkwall is a port with ferry services to Aberdeen and Lerwick, as well as the principal north islands in the group. Hatson pier, the main ferry terminal, is some {{convert|2|mi|km|0|abbr=on}} outside the town centre.{{cite web|url=http://www.northlinkferries.co.uk/ports/kirkwall/|title=Kirkwall (Hatston) Ferry Terminal – NorthLink Ferries|website=www.northlinkferries.co.uk|access-date=9 August 2018|archive-date=10 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180810011056/http://www.northlinkferries.co.uk/ports/kirkwall/|url-status=live}}

The Aberdeen, Leith, Clyde & Tay Shipping Company operated steamer services to Kirkwall from 1836, with successor companies operating until 2002.{{cite web |url=http://www.shipsofthenorth.co.uk/op_past_po.asp |title=P&O Scottish Ferries |publisher=Ships of the North |accessdate=2009-08-08 |archive-date=21 April 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120421163529/http://www.shipsofthenorth.co.uk/op_past_po.asp |url-status=dead }}

Kirkwall Airport, the main airport for Orkney, is {{convert|2+1/2|mi|km|0|abbr=on}} southeast of the town. There are no passenger rail services in Kirkwall, the nearby railways having been industrial or military.{{cite web|url=https://www.scotrail.co.uk/scotland-by-rail/destinations/orkney-shetland|title=Trains to & from Orkney and Shetland – ScotRail|website=www.scotrail.co.uk|access-date=19 August 2018|archive-date=19 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180819114527/https://www.scotrail.co.uk/scotland-by-rail/destinations/orkney-shetland|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://www.irsociety.co.uk/Archives/10/orcadian_railways.htm|title=ORCADIAN RAILWAYS|website=www.irsociety.co.uk|access-date=19 August 2018|archive-date=7 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190507145130/http://www.irsociety.co.uk/Archives/10/orcadian_railways.htm|url-status=live}}

• Glaitness Nursery
• Papdale Nursery
• Peedie Breeks Nursery (closed 2020)
• Strynd Nursery
• Willow Tree Nursery

• Aurrida School
• Glaitness Primary School
• Papdale Primary School

• Kirkwall Grammar School

• Orkney College UHI
• Institute of Northern Studies

The oldest school in Kirkwall, Kirkwall Grammar School, has been established since circa 1200.{{cite web|url=http://www.kgsorkney.com/about-kgs.html|title=About KGS|website=Kirkwall Grammar School|access-date=30 July 2018|archive-date=31 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180731031314/http://www.kgsorkney.com/about-kgs.html|url-status=live}} The current school building was opened in 2014.{{cite web|url=https://www.orcadian.co.uk/kirkwall-grammar-school-officially-opened/|title=Kirkwall Grammar School officially opened – The Orcadian Online|date=17 June 2014|access-date=25 July 2018|archive-date=26 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180726071833/https://www.orcadian.co.uk/kirkwall-grammar-school-officially-opened/|url-status=live}}

The Orkney College main campus is situated in Kirkwall, in a purpose-built building that opened in 2000.{{cite web|url=http://www.kgsorkney.com/uploads/1/4/9/3/14935550/kgshistory.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211021120157/http://www.kgsorkney.com/uploads/1/4/9/3/14935550/kgshistory.pdf |archive-date=2021-10-21 |url-status=live |title=The History of Kirkwall Grammar School|page=12|access-date=28 September 2022}}

File:St Magnus Cathedral, Kirkwall, viewed from the Bishop%27s Palace.jpg dominates the Kirkwall skyline]]

The 'Kirk' of Kirkwall was not the cathedral (which was originally at Birsay), but the 11th-century church of Saint Olaf of Norway. One late medieval doorway survives from this church, and an aumbry from the original church survives within the late 19th-century structure of the present-day Saint Olaf's Church (Episcopal) in the town's Dundas Crescent. At the heart of the town stands St Magnus Cathedral, which was founded in memory of Saint Magnus Erlendsson, Earl of Orkney 1108–1117 by Earl (later Saint) Rögnvald Kali.{{HEScotland|num=LB36668|desc=Broad Street, St Magnus Cathedral|access-date=12 October 2021}} Next to the cathedral are the ruins of the former Bishop's Palace{{Historic Environment Scotland|num=SM90193|desc=Bishop's Palace, Kirkwall|access-date=22 February 2019}} and Earl's Palace.{{Historic Environment Scotland|num=SM90194|desc=Earl's Palace, Kirkwall|access-date=22 February 2019}}

The Pickaquoy Centre, Orkney's largest leisure centre, is located in Kirkwall, which opened in 1999.{{cite web|url=https://www.orcadian.co.uk/celebrating-20-years-of-the-pickaquoy-centre/|title=Celebrating 20 years of the Pickaquoy Centre|date=17 April 2019|newspaper=The Orcadian|access-date=28 September 2022}}

Kirkwall Grammar School Sports Centre has indoor sports facilities, and grass and synthetic pitches, available to the public.{{cite web|url=http://www.orkney.gov.uk/Service-Directory/S/kgs-sports-centre.htm|title=KGS Sports Centre|website=www.orkney.gov.uk|access-date=25 July 2018|archive-date=26 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180726040845/http://www.orkney.gov.uk/Service-Directory/S/kgs-sports-centre.htm|url-status=live}}

Kirkwall is twinned with:

{{div col|colwidth=20em}}

• Moena, Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol (since 1996)[http://eprints.hud.ac.uk/id/eprint/17519/1/dtraversfinalthesis.pdf 'The Churchillian Paradigmand the "Other British Isles": An Examination of Second World WarRemembrance in Man, Orkney, and Jersey'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191104085002/http://eprints.hud.ac.uk/id/eprint/17519/1/dtraversfinalthesis.pdf |date=4 November 2019 }}, p.146

{{div col end}}

• Conran of Orkney, 7th-century Bishop of the Orkneys{{citation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MXgTAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA155 |accessdate=2021-08-19|location=London |publisher=John Murphy

|last=Butler |first=Alban |title=The lives of the fathers, martyrs, and other principal saints |volume=2|year=1821|page=155}}

• Stanley Cursiter, Painter and Limner, born in East Road{{cite web |url=https://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/biographical_index/fells_indexp1.pdf |title=Biographical Index of Former Fellows of The Royal Society of Edinburgh, 1783–2002 |publisher=The Royal Society of Edinburgh |date=July 2006 |access-date=2018-08-19 |archive-date=24 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130124115814/http://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/biographical_index/fells_indexp1.pdf |url-status=live }}
• Ola Gorie, jewellery designer{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2007/dec/08/shopping.shoppingdirectory89 |title=Shopping directory: Jewellery: Scotland | Life and style |newspaper=The Guardian |date= 8 December 2007|accessdate=2016-02-04}}
• Peter Marshall. He was educated in Kirkwall.{{cite web |title=Professor Peter Marshall |url=https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/history/people/staff_index/pmarshall/ |website=Department of History |publisher=University of Warwick |access-date=15 November 2018}}
• Clara Anne Williams (née Rendall) (Kirkwall, 24 July 1887),Clara Anne Rendall birth details:https://www.bayanne.info/Shetland/getperson.php?personID=I390219&tree=ID1 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211001074632/https://www.bayanne.info/Shetland/getperson.php?personID=I390219&tree=ID1 |date=1 October 2021 }} missionary, teacher, wife of Rev. Aeneas Francon Williams, was awarded the Kaisar-i-Hind medal in 1946 for her work during WWII being in-charge of Red Cross work in Dooars, Bengal, India.{{cite journal |title=Medical News |journal=The Indian Medical Gazette |date=December 1945 |volume=80 |issue=12 |pages=629–632 |pmc=5218119 |pmid=29015760 }}
• Ann Scott-Moncrieff, author and writer{{Cite news |date=March 10, 1943 |title=Obituary: Mrs. Ann Scott-Moncrieff |page=6 |work=The Glasgow Herald |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2507&dat=19430310&id=vDRAAAAAIBAJ&sjid=TVkMAAAAIBAJ&pg=4890,3650973 |access-date=September 26, 2023}}

{{notelist}}

{{reflist}}

• {{Haswell-Smith}}
• {{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924026356406|title=The dialect and place names of Shetland; two popular lectures|last=Jakobsen|first=Jakob|author-link=Jakob Jakobsen|publisher=Lerwick, T. & J. Manson|others=Cornell University Library|year=1897|location=Lerwick|chapter=The old Shetland place-names|type=Lecture|lccn=03002186|access-date=2019-10-07|via=archive.org}}
• {{cite book|last=MacBain|first=Alex|year=1922|title= Place Names: Highlands and Islands of Scotland|publisher=Eneas MacKay|location=Stirling|isbn=0-7185-1197-2}}

{{Commons category}}

{{Wikivoyage}}

• [http://www.orkneyjar.com/orkney/kirkwall/index.html Orkneyjar – The Royal Burgh of Kirkwall] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210125091219/http://www.orkneyjar.com/orkney/kirkwall/index.html |date=25 January 2021 }}
• [http://www.lel.ed.ac.uk/dialects/nis.html Listen to recordings of a speaker of Kirkwall Scots]

{{Orkney Islands}}

{{Orkney settlements}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Fishing communities in Scotland

Category:Port cities and towns in Scotland

Category:Port cities and towns of the North Sea

Category:County towns in Scotland

Category:Towns in Orkney

Category:Towns with cathedrals in the United Kingdom

Category:Viking Age populated places

Category:Mainland, Orkney