Point, Outer Hebrides

Point, An Rubha in Gaelic, is also known as the Eye peninsula and is connected to the rest of the Isle of Lewis by a narrow isthmus, one mile in length and barely 100 metres wide. Point is home to around 2,600 people and is one of the few districts of the Western Isles or Outer Hebrides where the population is actually increasing.

Related Topics:
Isle of Lewis - Western Isles - Outer Hebrides

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There are two historical sites of interest at the eastern end of the isthmus (Am Braighe as it is known in Gaelic). The ruins of the Eye Church are all that remain of a building dedicated to St. Columba. It is among the large pre-Reformation Churches in the Western Isles. Although the present buildings are probably medieval, the Church is reputedly on the site of the cell of St. Catan, a contemporary of St. Columba. This is the burial ground of nineteen of the Chiefs of the MacLeods of Lewis. There are two old carved commemorative slabs on the walls of the larger building: one depicts a warrior and is believed to be Roderick, 7th Chief; while the other is for Margaret, daughter of Roderick MacLeod of Lewis, who died in 1503.

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In recent years, the land reform struggle of the nineteenth century in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland is being recognised and the Aignish Riots of 1888 are commemorated by a stunning memorial adjacent to the Eye Church.

Related Topics:
Aignish

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