This page deals with the pubs of south Mull, which generally are strung along the road from Craignure, the mainland ferry terminal, to Fionnphort, the ferry terminal for the Isle of Iona. North Mull pubs are dealt with on a separate page.
The first licensed premises that you see on coming off the pier is Macgregor's Roadhouse on the right, which is basically a restaurant with a bar. If you turn left, in the direction of Iona, after some quarter of a mile you will come to the Craignure Inn where you meet genial host Billy Macgregor, seen here with my daughter. This establishment is more pub-like in atmosphere as you can see, but also does excellent bar meals.
A lot more information about the Inn, the Craignure district, and the clan Maclean is to be found on Rob Goodson's Clan Gillean site. Rob is a regular visitor to Mull from his home in Texas.
On the left just past the Inn is a turning to the old pier and to the Mull Railway station, from where 10.25 inch-gauge miniature trains take visitors to Torosay Castle in summer. But if you have a car or enjoy a walk, the Castle can be reached by following the main road for a mile or so.
Beyond the Torosay turning is another side-road to the left, which leads to Duart Castle, seat of the Macleans of Duart, perched on its commanding promontory, which you will have seen during the crossing from Oban. Rob's website mentioned above has details of marine archaeological work on a historic shipwreck, the Swan, which was sunk in a 17th-century sea-battle just off the Castle.
Continuing towards Iona, the road leads through Loch Don village to Ardura, where there is a turning for Lochbuie and Croggan. From there on, you pass through the desolate Great Glen of Mull.
After several miles, you reach the next hostelry for the weary traveller, the Kinloch Hotel, which is beautifully situated at the head of a loch a few miles from our village, and has the only known web camera (so far!) in the island. This shows the view looking north from the hotel towards the island's largest mountain. Many walkers, climbers and others use this webcam as a guide to the weather, but we must emphasise that it can change very rapidly! When not attending to the needs of his guests, Charles the owner will be delighted to talk about computers and his many other interests.
In late 2002 rumours started circulating im Mull about a new mystery pub somewhere. More information on this will be posted in due course.
But for more general information, very comprehensive information about the island and its facilities is to be found on the Holiday Mull site, and the Tobermory site has beautiful 360-degree panoramic views of many places in the island.
Please note that we say "in" Mull, not "on" Mull. It is a large island. After all, one doesn't speak of being "on" Ireland or Australia.
One of the hazards on our single-track roads is meeting visitors who have underestimated the island's size, and are racing to catch the last ferry back to the mainland. So please look at the mileages involved and don't expect to average more than 20 mph.
Before proceeding further I will test it so far. What happened to the Clansman? I have not registered this site, it is only known to people who have been told about it. Geo.