Lismore

Island off the west coast of Argyll and Bute unitary authority, Scotland, situated at the mouth of Loch Linnhe, 8 km/5 mi northwest of Oban on the mainland; population (2001) 146. It covers an area 15 km/9 mi long and about 2 km/1 mi wide.

Achadun Castle, now in ruins, was once the seat of the bishops of Argyll.

Lismore

Town in northeast New South Wales, Australia, on the River Richmond, 225 km/140 mi south of Brisbane, on the rivers Wilson and Richmond; population (1996) 28,380. It is the centre of a dairying region, and industries include butter-making and cattle breeding. There is also a growing tropical agricultural sector.

Southern Cross University has a campus at Lismore, and the town has the largest per capita population of artists in Australia. It is a centre of ecotourism, with the highest population of naturally occuring koala bears in New South Wales.

Lismore is often referred to as being in the ‘Rainbow region’. There is rainforest nearby in the Border Ranges National Park, which is listed as a World Heritage site.

Lismore

Town in County Waterford, Republic of Ireland; population (2002) 800. Lismore is situated on a rocky height overlooking the River Blackwater. It has a fine baronial castle (begun by King John in 1185 and later extended).

Lismore Castle was built on the site of a monastery that was founded by St Carthach in 633 and later became an important seat of learning. The castle was granted in 1589 to the adventurer Walter Raleigh, and in 1602 passed to the Boyle family; the chemist Robert Boyle was born here. It is now the property of the duke of Devonshire, after passing to the Devonshires in 1753.

The town has a Protestant cathedral and the modern Roman Catholic cathedral of St Carthach. The Lismore Crosier is kept in the National Museum, Dublin.