Some services also call at Kirkwall, Orkney, which increases the journey time between Aberdeen and Lerwick by 2 hours.

Kirkwall also once had a medieval castle, which was destroyed in the 17th century.

Both of Orkney's burghs, Kirkwall and Stromness, lie on the island, which is also the heart of Orkney's ferry and air connections.

The island is sometimes referred to as " Pomona " ( or " Pomonia "), a name that stems from a sixteenth century mis-translation by George Buchanan and which has rarely been used locally, although it is retained in the name of the Pomona Inn at Finstown in the parish of Firth, as well as a local cafe in the capital of Kirkwall also known as the Pomona.

Kirkwall is also the traditional seat of the Bishop of Orkney, and St. Magnus Cathedral is to be found there.

Inter-island ferry services are operated by Orkney Ferries and SIC Ferries, which are operated by the respective local authorities and Northlink also run a Lerwick to Kirkwall service.

In addition to the Glasgow and Edinburgh bases of the broadcaster, BBC Scotland also has offices and studios located in Aberdeen, Dundee, Portree, Stornoway, Inverness, Selkirk, Dumfries, Kirkwall and Lerwick.

And given the similarities in style and sophistication, he also seems to have been the hand behind the later and grander Earl's Palace built in Kirkwall by Earl Patrick in 1607.

The Kirkwall Ba Game ( also spelled ba ') is one of the main annual events held in the town of Kirkwall, in Orkney, Scotland.

The following museums have important collections of Pictish stones: Meigle ( Perthshire ), St Vigeans ( Angus ) and St Andrew's Cathedral ( Fife ) ( all Historic Scotland ), the Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh ( which also exhibits almost all the major pieces of surviving Pictish metalwork ), the Meffan Institute, Forfar ( Angus ), Inverness Museum, Groam House Museum, Rosemarkie and Tarbat Discovery Centre, Portmahomack ( both Easter Ross ) and Tankerness House Museum, Kirkwall, Orkney.

Kirkwall Grammar School, Kirkwall, is the usual school, however, in recent years, Stromness Academy, Stromness, has been the secondary school of choice for many of the pupils.

Apart from the main historical buildings mentioned above, Kirkwall has many 17th-18th century houses and other structures in the local vernacular style.

It has a population of about 550, making it Orkney's third largest settlement after Kirkwall and Stromness.

The game was traditionally played by men from Kirkwall and the surrounding area of St. Ola, however in recent times the games popularity has grown to include players from all areas of Orkney, including some of the outer isles.

The Doonies goal is the sea, normally within the Basin of the Harbour, but so long as it is immersed in the salt water of Kirkwall Bay, the Ba has gone doon.

Highland Park Single Malt is a Scotch whisky distilled by Highland Park Distillery, Kirkwall in Orkney, the most northerly whisky distillery in Scotland, half a mile farther north than that at Scapa.

Inter-Island flights are available from Kirkwall to several Orkney islands and from the Shetland Mainland to most of the inhabited islands including those from Tingwall Airport.

Flights leave the island's Westray Airport at Aikerness for Kirkwall on the Orkney Mainland, and to Papa Westray ( known as Papay to the locals ) in the world's shortest scheduled journey ( two minutes ).

Britten-Norman Islanders operated by Loganair fly from Papa Westray Airport to Westray and Kirkwall ; the hop from Papa Westray to Westray is the world's shortest scheduled flight, at approximately 2 minutes.

The name Kirkwall comes from the Norse name Kirkjuvagr ( Church Bay ), which was later corrupted to Kirkvoe, Kirkwaa and Kirkwall.

The ' Kirk ' of Kirkwall was not the Cathedral ( which was originally at Birsay ), but the 11th century church of Saint Olaf of Norway.

The composer Peter Maxwell Davies founded the annual St Magnus Festival which uses various Kirkwall venues.

In the meantime, Fox sat for the Scottish pocket borough of Tain or Northern Burghs, for which he was qualified by being made an unlikely burgess of Kirkwall in Orkney ( which was one of the Burghs in the district ).

Holm, Deerness and St Andrews are located to the east of central St Ola, which contains Kirkwall town.

The three main settlements on Mainland, in order of magnitude are Kirkwall and Stromness, both of which are burghs, and Finstown.

Kirkwall, the capital of the islands, lies on a narrow strip of land between west Mainland and east Mainland, which historically enabled it to have access to both the southern and northern Orkney Islands.

There is one village on the island, Balfour, from which roll-on / roll-off car ferries sail to Kirkwall on the Orkney Mainland.

Early Christian carved stones, which may date from as early as the 7th century AD, found at this site are on display in Tankerness House Museum, Kirkwall and the National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh.

It took a royal army under the Earl of Caithness and a siege ( during which Kirkwall Castle was destroyed and St Magnus Cathedral, Kirkwall, was threatened ) to displace him, and both Patrick and his son Robert were later executed.

Kirkwall was a parliamentary burgh, combined with Dingwall, Dornoch, Tain and Wick in the Northern Burghs constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1708 to 1801 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1918.

It was represented by one Member of Parliament until 1918, when the constituency was abolished and the Kirkwall component was merged into the county constituency of Orkney and Shetland.

Scottish film-maker Margaret Tait was born in Kirkwall, and many of her films ( in particular the Aspects Of Kirkwall series ) are set there.

Magnus's nephew, Rognvald Kali Kolsson, laid claim to the Earldom of Orkney, and was advised by his father Kol to promise the islanders to " build a stone minster at Kirkwall " in memory of his uncle the Holy Earl, and this became St Magnus Cathedral, Kirkwall.

Haakon was buried in the St Magnus Cathedral in Kirkwall for the winter, and when spring came he was exhumed and his body taken back to Norway, where he was buried in the Old Cathedral in his capital Bergen.

From 1832 to 1918 Cromarty was a parliamentary burgh, combined with Dingwall, Dornoch, Kirkwall, Tain and Wick in the Wick Burghs constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

Dornoch was a parliamentary burgh, combined with Dingwall, Kirkwall, Tain and Wick in the Northern Burghs constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1708 to 1801 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1918.

* Sir John Clere's son, a brother of the poet Thomas Clere, ( John Clere of Ormesby, Norfolk was killed in battle at Kirkwall on 21 August 1557 )

Dingwall was a parliamentary burgh, combined with Dornoch, Kirkwall, Tain and Wick in the Northern Burghs constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1708 to 1801 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1918.

Tain was a parliamentary burgh, combined with Dingwall, Dornoch, Kirkwall and Wick in the Northern Burghs constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1708 to 1801 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1918.

The third creation came in 1696 when the soldier Lord George Hamilton was made Lord Dechmont, Viscount of Kirkwall and Earl of Orkney in the Peerage of Scotland.

Selected Papers from the FRLSU Conference, Kirkwall 2009, edited by Robert McColl Millar.

Kirkwall Harbour can be seen in The Highlands and Islands-A Royal Tour, a 1973 documentary about Prince Charles ' visit to the Highlands and Islands, directed by Oscar Marzaroli.

The Pictish settlement is attested by a small well and an important collection of artefacts ( now in Tankerness House Museum, Kirkwall and in the Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh ).

The main airport in Orkney is Kirkwall Airport, operated by Highland and Islands Airports.

* Lerwick to Kirkwall ( operated by NorthLink Ferries )

* Aberdeen to Kirkwall ( operated by NorthLink Ferries )

The main ferry terminal is at Rapness with regular sailings by Orkney Ferries to Kirkwall.

For hundreds of years the story of St. Magnus, part of the Orkneyinga saga, was considered just a legend until a skull with a large crack in it, such as it had been stricken by an axe, was found in the walls of St. Magnus Cathedral in Kirkwall.

Flights link the island with Kirkwall on the Orkney Mainland, as does a weekly ferry operated by Orkney Ferries.

The main airport in Orkney is at Kirkwall, operated by Highland and Islands Airports.

The seat of the diocese was transferred to St Magnus Cathedral, Kirkwall in the later twelfth century, though the Bishops of Orkney continued to have a residence in Birsay ( known by the Latin name Mons Bellus ) into late medieval times.

The memorial was dedicated on 7 September 1938 and a bronze inscription on the monument reads " erected by the Rector and Congregation of St Magnus the Martyr by London Bridge and the Minister and Congregation of St Magnus Cathedral, Kirkwall to commemorate the traditional spot where Earl Magnus was slain, AD circa 1116 and to commemorate the Octocentenary of St Magnus Cathedral 1937 ".

Selected Papers from the FRLSU Conference, Kirkwall 2009, edited by Robert McColl Millar.