Rhins of Galloway | |
|---|---|
 View over the isthmus joining the Rhins to the mainland | |
| Location | Wigtownshire, Dumfries & Galloway |
| Highest elevation | 182m (Cairn Pat) |
| Northern extremity | Milleur Point |
| Southern extermity | Mull of Galloway |
The Rhins (or Rhinns) of Galloway is a double-headed peninsula in southwestern Scotland. It takes the form of a hammerhead projecting into the Irish Sea, terminating in the north at Corsewall and Milleur Points and in the south at the Mull of Galloway (the southernmost point of Scotland). It is connected to the rest of Wigtownshire by an isthmus, washed on the north by Loch Ryan and on the south by Luce Bay. From end to end, the peninsula measures 28 miles (45 kilometres).[1] It takes its name from the Gaelic word rinn, meaning "point".[2]
The principal settlements are Stranraer at the head of Loch Ryan and the small tourist village of Portpatrick on the west coast. Other villages are dotted up and down the peninsula, including Kirkcolm, Leswalt, Lochans, and, in the South Rhins, Stoneykirk, Sandhead, Ardwell, and Drummore.
- ^ Groome, Francis H., ed. (1885). Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland: A Survey of Scottish Topography, Statistical, Biographical, and Historical. Vol. 3. Edinburgh: Thomas C. Jack. p. 252.
- ^ Watson, William J. (1926). The History of the Celtic Place-Names of Scotland. Edinburgh and London: William Blackwood and Sons. pp. 495–6.