Mull of Kintyre#Lighthouse

The name is an anglicisation of the Gaelic {{lang|gd|Maol Chinn Tìre}} ({{IPA|gd|mɯːl̪ˠ çiɲˈtʲʰiːɾʲə}}), 'Rounded [or bare] Headland', where {{lang|gd|chinn}} and {{lang|gd|tìre}} are respectively the genitive forms of {{lang|gd|ceann}} 'head, headland' and {{lang|gd|tìr}} 'land, country', so 'Headland Country' or more simply 'Head Land'. The anglicised variant Cantyre derives directly from non-genitive {{lang|gd|Ceann Tìre}} {{IPA|gd|kʲʰaɲˈtʲʰiːɾʲə}}.

Mull as a geographical term is most commonly found in southwest Scotland, where it is often applied to headlands or promontories, and, often more specifically, for the tip of that promontory or peninsula.{{citation needed|date=January 2011}}

The term mull derives from {{lang|gd|maol}} 'bald, bare; baldness, bareness'.{{cite web |url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=mull&searchmode=none |title=Mull |publisher=Online Etymology Dictionary |access-date=17 January 2011 |archive-date=14 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121014122148/http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=mull&searchmode=none |url-status=live }}{{cite web |url=http://www.clanmacrae.org/documents/gaelic-m.htm |title='maol' in Gaelic–English Dictionary |work=ClanMacrae.org |publisher=Clan MacRae Society of Canada |access-date=17 January 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101204095752/http://www.clanmacrae.org/documents/gaelic-m.htm |archive-date=4 December 2010 |url-status=dead}} The geographical reference is to a land formation bare of trees, such as a rounded hill, summit, mountain, promontory, or headland.

The Mull is at the extreme south western tip of the Kintyre peninsula, approximately {{convert|10|mi|km|abbr=off}} from Campbeltown in Argyll and Bute, Western Scotland. It is about {{convert|8|mi|km|0|abbr=off}} beyond the southernmost village of the peninsula, Southend with its tea room and beaches, and reached via a single-track road.{{cite web |url=http://www.kintyre.org/mullofkintyre/index.php |publisher=Kintyre tourist information |title=Kintyre Guide |access-date=17 January 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110319031805/http://www.kintyre.org/mullofkintyre/index.php |archive-date=19 March 2011 |url-status=dead }}

File:Antrim Coast from Mull of Kintyre on a Sunny Day.jpg in distance]]

File:Mull of Kintyre from NI.jpg]]

Ailsa Craig and the County Antrim coast of Ulster and Rathlin Island are all clearly visible from the Mull. On clearer days it is also possible to make out Malin Head in Inishowen in County Donegal in the north of Ulster, and the Ayrshire coast on the other side of Ailsa Craig. Other islands in the Firth of Clyde are also visible when looking east, especially from further back along the single track road from Southend village. The Straits of Moyle (part of the North Channel) allow sea passage from the Irish Sea to the Atlantic Ocean. Notoriously strong currents plague the tip of the Kintyre Peninsula creating a hazard to unmotorised craft and virtually impossible for distance swimmers.{{cite news |title=Wayne Soutter makes history with North Channel swim |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-19388990 |publisher=BBC |access-date=27 August 2012 |work=BBC News |date=27 August 2012 |archive-date=30 August 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120830003008/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-19388990 |url-status=live }}{{cite news |last=Chris |first=Kilpatrick |title=Superman Wayne on crest of a wave after historic sea swim |url=http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/northern-ireland/superman-wayne-on-crest-of-a-wave-after-historic-sea-swim-16203401.html |access-date=28 August 2012 |newspaper=Belfast Telegraph |publisher=Independent News & Media |date=28 August 2012}} At its closest point, mainland Ulster is {{cvt|12|mi}} from the Mull. Owing to the low elevation of Rathlin Island and the high elevation of the Mull of Kintyre it is also possible to see over the top of Rathlin Island to the Antrim coastal town of Ballycastle. Individual houses on the Antrim coast and cars travelling along the coast road can sometimes be seen without the aid of binoculars, visibility conditions depending.

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The Mull has been an important landbridge throughout history. It is thought that it was used by early humans in their travels from continental Europe to Ireland via Scotland. In more recent times it was used again by the Scotti when they travelled from Ireland to establish the kingdom of Dál Riata in modern-day Argyll.

The steep cliffs and hills rising out of the sea on all sides, along with the frequent sea mists, have made the area a hazard to flight. It has been the site of numerous air crashes throughout aviation history, and the remains of some of those crashed aircraft still litter the area.{{cite web |url=http://www.peakdistrictaircrashes.co.uk/pages/scotland/scotlandwx545.htm |title=Armstrong Whitworth Whitley Mk.V P5041 of No.502 Squadron, RAF, flew into high ground above the long abandoned settlement at Balmavicar on the Mull of Kintyre on the 23rd January 1941 |work=Peak District Air Accident Research |access-date=19 October 2015 |archive-date=26 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150926134928/http://www.peakdistrictaircrashes.co.uk/pages/scotland/scotlandwx545.htm |url-status=live }}{{cite web |url=http://www.aircrashsites-scotland.co.uk/beaufort_torr-mor.htm |title=Bristol Beaufort N1180 |work=Air Crash Sites Scotland |publisher=Gordon Lyons |access-date=19 October 2015 |archive-date=6 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306211018/http://www.aircrashsites-scotland.co.uk/beaufort_torr-mor.htm |url-status=live }}{{cite web |url=http://www.aircrashsites-scotland.co.uk/neptune_beinn-na-lice.htm |title=Lockheed Neptune WX545 |work=Air Crash Sites Scotland |publisher=Gordon Lyons |access-date=19 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160309001956/http://www.aircrashsites-scotland.co.uk/neptune_beinn-na-lice.htm |archive-date=9 March 2016 |url-status=dead}}

A notable air disaster on the Mull was the RAF Chinook helicopter crash on 2 June 1994.

On 13 June 1858 the SS New York, a steamship converted to sail, was wrecked at the south end of the Mull of Kintyre.{{cite web |url=https://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?11715 |title=Wrecksite – New York Passenger/cargo Ship 1854–1858 |access-date=29 December 2017 |archive-date=19 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210319064624/https://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?11715 |url-status=live }}

File:Kintyre-Scotland.svg is highlighted in red. The "Mull of Kintyre" properly refers to the headland at the southernmost end, but in this context the apparent angle of the whole peninsula is the relevant standard against which a penis would be compared.]]

The Mull of Kintyre test or Mull of Kintyre rule is, according to an urban legend, an unofficial guideline that was used by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) in the United Kingdom to decide whether an image of a penis could be shown.{{Cite web |url=https://www.scotsman.com/arts-and-culture/what-does-the-mull-of-kintyre-have-in-common-with-censorship-1494774 |title=What does the Mull of Kintyre have in common with censorship? |date=23 September 2015 |website=www.scotsman.com |language=en |access-date=19 February 2019 |archive-date=31 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230831044109/https://www.scotsman.com/arts-and-culture/what-does-the-mull-of-kintyre-have-in-common-with-censorship-1494774 |url-status=live }} According to the myth, the BBFC would not permit the general release of a film or video if it depicted a phallus erect to the point that the angle it made from the vertical was higher than that of the Kintyre peninsula, Argyll and Bute, on maps of Scotland. The BBFC has denied that any such 'test' existed, and maintain it is merely a humorous rumour.{{cite news |title=WH Smith suffers from video nasties |first=John |last=O'Reilly |url=http://www.v3.co.uk/vnunet/analysis/2132026/wh-smith-suffers-video-nasties |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120822070100/http://www.v3.co.uk:80/v3-uk/analysis/1975303/wh-smith-suffers-video-nasties |archive-date=22 August 2012 |publisher=VNU Business Publications Ltd. |date=12 October 2000}}{{cite news |title=Hit & Run: Seen but not hard - the big penis debate |first=Rachel |last=Shields |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/hit-and-run/hit-amp-run-seen-but-not-hard--the-big-penis-debate-1771105.html |publisher=independent.co.uk |date=2009 |access-date=16 July 2021 |archive-date=25 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925131539/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/hit-and-run/hit-amp-run-seen-but-not-hard--the-big-penis-debate-1771105.html |url-status=live }}

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• British Isles fixed sea link connections – which details infrastructure proposals involving the mull.

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Category:Headlands of Scotland

Category:Kintyre

Category:Landforms of Argyll and Bute