Oa

   OA, lately a quoad sacra parish, in the parish of Kildalton, district of Islay, county of Argyll, 9 miles (S. S. E.) from Bowmore; containing 1023 inhabitants. This place, which occupies the south-eastern portion of the peninsula of Islay, was separated for ecclesiastical purposes from Kildalton, and erected into a quoad sacra parish, by act of the General Assembly. The village is situated on the road from Port-Ellen to Bowmore; and the inhabitants are partly employed in agriculture, and in the rearing of black-cattle, of which considerable numbers are sold at the fairs held at Port-Ellen. There are no regular fisheries established; but cod and other white-fish are occasionally taken off the coast in great abundance. The church, erected by parliament in 1828, is a neat plain structure: the minister's stipend is £120, with a manse, and a small glebe; patron, the Crown. A school is partly supported by government, and there are others dependent solely on the fees, in which about 200 children in the aggregate receive instruction.