Drive through the village of Southend, past the graveyard and you will come to a gate leading to St Columba’s Footprints and Well. The two footprints are carved in stone on the top of a small rise. Standing in them and looking out over the sea to the Antrim Coast (clearly visible on a clear day) you can certainly see why Kintyre was one of the first stopping points for early Irish Christian missionaries.
St Columba is said to have landed in Kintyre in 563, at the start of his exile from Ireland. He gave his name to the carved footprints (although the one furthest from the sea is said to have been carved by a local stonemason in 1856 to add to the legend!), a carved well a bit further along the path and the ivy covered ruined chapel in the graveyard below.
Car parking is available at Carskiey Beach a little way past the gate to the Footprints and Keil Caves.
