Bunessan

Bunessan (Bun Easain), meaning "bottom of the waterfall", is a small village on the Ross of Mull, a peninsula in the south-west of the Isle of Mull, off the west coast of Scotland. The settlement is at OS grid reference NM382218, within the parish of Kilfinichen and Kilvickeon, and is situated on the A849, at the head of a cove at the southern end of Loch na Làthaich.

Community
In 1961 it had a population of 107. A village hall is used for dances throughout the year. The primary school for the Ross of Mull is found in Bunessan.

Economy
Business has included crofting, a mill (now home to the Ross of Mull Historical Centre), weaving and a small fishing fleet, up to the end of the 20th century. The village still has a lobster fishery.

Bunessan village has one hotel, The Bunessan Inn (previously named Argyll Arms) (the only pub in the area), one grocery shop and a craft shop.

Bunessan Inn
The Bunessan Inn, previously the Argyll Arms, is the only pub and hotel in the village of Bunessan in Argyll and Bute.

It was established over three centuries ago (the exact date is unknown). The earliest record of the inn was in 1773 when Dr Samuel Johnson and James Boswell, on their way to the isle of Iona, stopped at the inn in search of whisky from Lachlan McLean; but upon asking the innkeeper they found that the whisky supplies were empty due to a funeral a few days before.

The Inn was reopened in June 2023 under new ownership following a cellar refurbishment and installation of new toilet and baby change facilities. the guest rooms are set to reopen from Easter of 2024.

Hymn tune
Mary M. Macdonald (Màiri Dhòmhnallach) from the nearby crofting community of Ardtun used a traditional local melody for her Scottish Gaelic Christmas carol titled Leanabh an Àigh. In the 1880s Lachlan Macbean translated the text as "Child in the Manger" and called the air "Bunessan". The tune was reused in the 1930s for the hymn "Morning Has Broken".

Lighthouse
Bunessan lighthouse is located on a skerry of Gray Island in the entrance to Loch na Làthaich and the harbour of Bunessan. The present lighthouse is a metal skeletal tower covered by white aluminium panel as a daymark and the light on the top. The light emits a white or red flash, depending on the direction every six seconds.