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One item I expected to find in this article was an explanation for why the name "Hinba" was forgotten. I could speculate about the reasons (e.g., massive depopulation of the islands during the Viking period, which resulted in new settlers with new place-names), but I expect there are historians with better credentials than I who could be cited in an answer to this question. -- llywrch (talk) 16:53, 27 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I imagine it is a combination of the gap in written records in the centuries after Adomnan, the Viking incursions that obliterated much of the early Christian heritage of the Hebrides, and the lack of archaeological evidence that the timber buildings of Hinba have gifted to posterity. I don't know off-hand of a specific reference to verify this view however. Ben MacDuiTalk/Walk 14:32, 29 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Better late than never. See today's edit. Ben MacDui 19:32, 4 October 2016 (UTC)[reply]
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Collation of evidence

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The location of Hinba (pronounced "een-ba" according to Murray and Haswell-Smith) may remain forever a mystery but clearly some candidates are more likely than others. Below is a table that attempts to collate the evidence and opinion along with some commentary. Arguably, the table itself is WP:OR. Drawing conclusions from it most certainly would be and I have added nothing to the text based on it. Nonetheless it may be helpful for anyone attempting to obtain an overview.

Y = Yes, N = No, P = Possible, ? = Disputed or Dubious.

Indicator Eileach
an
Naoimh 		Jura Oronsay Seil Canna
Known connection with Columba Y Y
Known connection with Ernan Y
Known connection with Brendan Y
En route from Ireland to Iona Y Y Y P N
Has a 6th century religious site Y Y Y P
Has a Muirbolcmor ? Y Y ?
Etymological link ? ? D
Similar micro-climate to Iona and Tiree Y Y Y
Visible from Iona ? Y

I haven't taken the trouble to reference the above, although it would be straightforward enough.

My knowledge of 7th century ecclesiastical history is not sufficient to know if all of the "connection with" boxes have been allocated appropriately.

Reeves translation has a second 'muirbolc' - that of Muirbolc Paradisi, which he identifies as Portnamurloch on the island of Lismore. The bay of Portnamurloch is quite unremarkable by west coast standards and the Strand at Oronsay or Loch Tarbert, Jura are indeed 'mor' by these standards. There is no reason why 7th century Gaelic place names should be highly consistent but it is quite a leap from Portnamurloch's tiny sheltered harbour to the Firth of Lorne.

All of the supposed etymological links are disputed. As Watson suggests, we are looking for an island that had a different name prior to the Norse era so why would there be one? There are other examples - see Scottish island names#Pre-Celtic remnants. Recent research suggests that the obliteration of pre-Norse names throughout the Hebrides was almost total and Gaelic derived place names on the southern islands are of post-Norse origin. (See e.g. Jennings and Kruse "One Coast-Three Peoples: Names and Ethnicity in the Scottish West during the Early Viking period" in Woolf, Alex (ed.) (2009) Scandinavian Scotland – Twenty Years After. St Andrews. St Andrews University Press. pp. 83–84.)

Visibility from Iona is not a topic I've seen mentioned in the references. Nonetheless, the weather is very unpredictable and it is clearly much easier to contemplate a short journey in an open boat when you can see your destination than having to battle the longer distances and fierce tides that some other options would require mastery of. Tiree, one of the other Columban 'deserts' is also visible from Iona. The Garvellachs are not visible from Iona but are no further away than Oronsay. Ben MacDui 19:19, 4 October 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Ailech

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One of Watson's main reasons for disputing Eileach an Naoimh as a possible Hinba is that Adomnan refers to Ailech and "there is thus more than a probability that the islet was known as Ailech in Columba's own time and it is most improbable that Adomnan would call it by another name." (p.82) I am not a Gaelic scholar, and perhaps there is some linguistic reason why Ailech could not have referred to Garbh Eileach, Eileach an Naoimh's neighbour. If it could have done then Brendan's original monastery might have been there - it is a larger island capable of supporting more people than Eileach an Naoimh and Brendan is closely associated with A' Chuli which lies between the two. Could Columba then have created a new 'desert' on Eileach an Naoimh, then called Hinba, with the former name only appearing at a later date after it had become known as a 'holy island'? Unless there is some citable evidence this is of course OR - and anything built by Brendan would likely have been of wood and long since become unavailable to the archaeological record. Ben MacDui 15:15, 18 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

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