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Sanda Island () is a small island in the Firth of Clyde, off of Argyll and Bute, Scotland, near the southern tip of the Kintyre peninsula, near Southend and Dunaverty Castle.
On clear days Sanda can be seen from the southern tip of the Kintyre peninsula, from the Isle of Arran and from northeast County Antrim. It is known locally on Arran and on the Antrim coast as "Spoon Island" because of its resemblance to an upturned spoon.
Sanda lies in the Straits of Moyle () between Scotland and Ireland. It is part of a mini-archipelago to the southeast of the Mull of Kintyre, at the far end of the Firth of Clyde. The other islands are Glunimore Island and Sheep Island, to the north east. Located on the north shore of Sanda is the Oitir Buidhe (yellow sand spit), a pronounced area of sand exposed at low tide, that has two . To the east there is also the notorious "ship catcher", Paterson's Reef.
The island has on most sides. There are on the west coast, and also a couple of natural arches, particularly near "the Ship" as the lighthouse is nicknamed. There are two main hills, in the north west and south east. In between them is a valley which has the double advantage of being sheltered from the prevailing winds and catching the heat of the sun.
The island is known for the ruins of a chapel built by Saint Ninian, for its and its reputed holy well.Reeves, William, 'On the Island of Sanda', paper read before the Royal Irish Academy on 14 April 1862 (Dublin: 1862) title at google.com It is said that Ninian was buried here, and indeed, the island was in possession of the Priory of Whithorn in Galloway until the Reformation. It is said that Ninian's grave was marked by an alder tree, and that whoever stepped on it would die.
It was known as "Sandey" (sandy island) by the Norsemen. This probably refers to the Oitir Buidhe which lies on the north shore of Sanda facing Sheep Island. Another name that appears to have attached itself to the island is Havoin (and numerous variants such as "Aven", "Avona"), which was recorded amongst the "Danish people" by Dean Monro in his 16th century Description of the Western Isles of Scotland. This is cognate with the English "haven", and probably refers to the anchorage on the north coast, alternatively, but much less likely, as Haswell-Smith suggests, this could also be a reference to the Scottish Gaelic "abhainn" which means a river.
In the Middle Ages, there was some association with the Bruce family, notably, Robert the Bruce and his brother Edward Bruce. Edward lends his name to "Prince Edward's Rock", which is just south of Sanda Lighthouse, and which is nothing to do with Bonnie Prince Charlie, as sometimes thought. Robert was once forced to flee there, en route to Ireland after being pursued by the English navy. He has been sheltering with sympathisers at nearby Dunaverty Castle, on Kintyre in 1306, but was forced to leave. He later sheltered at Rathlin Island, which is less than away, and which is where he was said to have seen the legendary spider in the cave. In the south are "Wallace's Rocks" which may be linked in legend to William Wallace.
In the later 16th and 17th centuries, the island was connected with the MacDonalds of Kintyre, who sided with Montrose Colkitto married a MacDonald of Sanda;; but there are other theories. those MacDonalds were also caught up in related fighting from the 1630s onwards, and lost their position as a result of the Dunaverty Massacre.
The island has had a number of different owners in its history, including, in 1969, Jack Bruce of the rock group Cream.
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