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It is the whisky-making Scottish island, world famous for its peaty single malts and warm hospitality. But the isle of Islay, in the Inner Hebrides, is now being recognised for an almost forgotten example of huge courage and humanity. A hundred years ago, Islay was on the frontline in the battle at sea during World War One. The island coped with mass casualties from two major troopship disasters just eight months apart. ... Between them, the sinkings of the SS Tuscania in February and HMS Otranto in October, claimed the lives of about 700 men in the last year of...

Warships from Britain, America, France and Germany have gathered over the wreck of a World War One troopship to pay respect to the 700 men who died in two disasters off Islay. More than 200 US soldiers died when the Tuscania was torpedoed by a German U-boat off Islay in February in 1918. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-43988158

Scientific evidence of an ancient invasion of Scotland from Ireland may have been uncovered by DNA techniques. Researchers from Edinburgh University said studies of Scots living on Islay, Lewis, Harris and Skye found strong links with Irish people. Early historical sources recount how the Gaels came from Ireland about 500 AD and conquered the Picts in Argyll. Scientists said the study was the first demonstration of a significant Irish genetics component in Scots' ancestry. The research, which features work by geneticist Dr Jim Wilson, a specialist in population genetics, is being featured in programmes on Gaelic television channel BBC Alba....

Try the 92 per cent weapons-grade whisky that will take your breath away. LiterallyBy David Lister, Scotland Correspondent   A 17TH-CENTURY firewater, more than two spoonfuls of which was said to be enough to kill a grown man, is to be revived by a whisky distillery in Scotland. A single drop of the ancient drink of “usquebaugh-baul” was described by the travel writer Martin Martin in 1695 as powerful enough to affect “all members of the body”. He added: “Two spoonfuls of this last liquor is a sufficient dose; if any man should exceed this, it would presently stop...

A Scottish whiskey manufacturer plans to reopen an Islay distillery that was put out of business 80 years ago by Prohibition in the United States. Executives at Bruichladdich, a private company that reopened another distillery on Islay in 2001, said their plan to bring the Port Charlotte distillery back to life is part of an effort to keep at least some Scotch-manufacturing in Scottish hands, The Scotsman reported. Seven of the eight distilleries now on Islay are foreign-owned. "The only Scottish one here is us. There are very few truly Scottish distilleries left now in the country," said Mark Reynier,...