Mull of Kintyre

[Bonnie Lass]

At least Kintyre Way and Kintyre Way Relay have the correct name.

[EMDEE]

I don't think the misconception about the name of the peninsula was created by Paul McCartney. The song did however reinforce it. I do remember at the time, hearing that the Isle of Mull got a tourism boost from it, and couldn't really understand why there should be confusion.

[glenn]

Think that's cos Mull has been a retirement retreat for many years for white settlers, especially ex-military bods; hence the name "The Sergeant's Mess".

[Amanda in Texas]

Among the hard core Beatles fans that I know, that video has a cult-like following. I first saw it myself in 1981 at a Beatlefest convention and loved it and the song. Since You Tube and such did not exist, my friends and I passed around a very poor quality VHS recording and looked forward to getting to see it on the big screen at conventions.

Based on the song, or really the video, some friends and I made our first highly anticipated visit to the area in 1997. We walked down to the lighthouse and back and when back at the car park, we played the song loudly on the car stereo, pleasing some Irish tourists also visiting the area. We then spent the afternoon and evening frolicking on the beach at Southend. We were disappointed that it didn't really look like it did in the video, but blamed that on the passage of 20 years time. Our B&B hostess (best B&B I have ever experienced) would have set us straight on the location, had we thought to ask. We just assumed that the video was filmed near the Mull.

During that brief visit, we fell in love with the town and the area, even apart from the McCartney connection. I purchased my "I've Been to the Mull of Kintyre" bumper stickers in the tourist office and vowed to return and take the ferry to Ireland. (By the way, that sticker on my car provokes questions everywhere I go.)

I have since been back and visited Saddell Beach, which did look exactly like the video, and really wished that someone in the town that was there for the filming was doing "tours" to talk about their experience. I know others who have visited just because of the song and loved the place.

So, yes, after 33 years, most normal people (at least in the US) wouldn't recall the song or video. However, the Mull of Kintyre is still high on the bucket list of Beatlemaniacs.