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Càrn Eighe

1182m high mountain in Highland, Scotland, UK

Architectural plans, a scale model, maps and brass measuring instruments
Places and architectureInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionMay 22, 2026
Entity authorityQ1149754
Source-derived summary

Carn Eighe (Scottish Gaelic: Càrn Èite) is a mountain in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland. Rising to 1,183 metres (3,881 ft) above sea level, it is the highest mountain in Scotland north of the Great Glen, the twelfth-highest in the British Isles, and, in terms of relative height (topographic prominence), it is the second-tallest mountain in the British Isles after Ben Nevis (its "parent peak" for determination of topographic prominence). Carn Eighe lies between Glen Affric and Loch Mullardoch, and is at the heart of a massif along with its twin peak, the 1,181-metre (3,875 ft) Mam Sodhail.

Administratively, it is in the Highland council area, on the boundary between the historic counties of Inverness and Ross and Cromarty, on the former lands of the Clan Chisholm. The mountain is not easy to access, being ten kilometres (6 mi) from the nearest road. Another prominent peak to the north, Beinn Fhionnlaidh, is even less accessible.

Name

The name "Carn Eighe", formerly spelled "Carn Eige" on Ordnance Survey maps, comes from Scottish Gaelic and has been interpreted as meaning "file peak" or "notch hill". However, according to Ainmean-Àite na h-Alba, the original Gaelic name is Càrn Èite.

Landscape

The summit is pyramid-shaped, the culmination of three ridges meeting. The nearest Munro is its "twin summit", Mam Sodhail, about one kilometre (5⁄8 mi) to the southwest, and there are three other Munros on the massif.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Càrn Eighe” as 1182m high mountain in Highland, Scotland, UK. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewMost useful as a place-based finding aid connecting the present description to earlier jurisdictions, maps and built evidence. The current 233-word lead offers orientation but no explicit four-digit date, so chronology should not be assumed. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. The account is most persuasive where Càrn, Eighe and 1182m can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as 1182m high mountain in Highland, Scotland, UK. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 22, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1149754. Authority coordinates are 57.288, -5.115. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.

Critical limits

A single description cannot reconcile every naming convention, rebuilding phase or administrative transfer associated with a place. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.

Best used for
  • Historic place names
  • Jurisdictional context
  • Routes into maps and plans
Verify next

Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Càrn Eighe”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Càrn Eighe primary sources, Càrn Eighe archive and Càrn research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Càrn Eighe”?
  2. Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
  3. Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Càrn Eighe” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.