The Barra Isles, also known as the Bishop's Isles, are a small

archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands, or sometimes a sea containing a small number of scattered islands. Examples of archipelagos include: the Indonesian Arc ...

in the Outer Hebrides of

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. They lie south of the island of

Barra Barra (; gd, Barraigh or ; sco, Barra) is an island in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland, and the second southernmost inhabited island there, after the adjacent island of Vatersay to which it is connected by a short causeway. The island is name ...

, for which they are named. The group consists of nine islands and numerous rocky islets, skerries, and sea stacks. In 1427, the

Lords of the Isles The Lord of the Isles or King of the Isles ( gd, Triath nan Eilean or ) is a title of Scottish nobility with historical roots that go back beyond the Kingdom of Scotland. It began with Somerled in the 12th century and thereafter the title w ...

awarded

Laird Laird () is the owner of a large, long-established Scottish estate. In the traditional Scottish order of precedence, a laird ranked below a baron and above a gentleman. This rank was held only by those lairds holding official recognition in ...

ship of Barra (and its associated islands) to Clan MacNeil of Barra. However, following acts of piracy by the MacNeils, king

James VI James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...

transferred ownership of the southern archipelago to the

Bishop of the Isles The Bishop of the Isles or Bishop of Sodor was the ecclesiastical head of the Diocese of the Isles (or Sodor), one of Scotland's thirteen medieval bishoprics. The bishopric, encompassing both the Hebrides and Mann, probably traces its origins as ...

, hence the islands became known as the ''Bishop's Isles''.Murray, W.H. (1966) ''The Hebrides''. London. Heinemann. p. 230 Murray writes that they belonged "to the Bishop of the Isles ''de jure'' although to

MacNeil MacNeil can have a number of different meanings and spellings: Clan MacNeil is a Scottish clan. Notable people *Al MacNeil (born 1935), Canadian hockey player *Angus MacNeil (born 1970), Scottish politician * Archibald Macneil of Colonsay (fl. ...

''de facto''". Many of the islands are extremely small; only the largest,

Vatersay The island of Vatersay (; gd, Bhatarsaigh) is the southernmost and westernmost inhabited island in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland, and the settlement of Caolas on the north coast of the island is the westernmost permanently inhabited place in ...

– which is now linked by causeway to Barra – remains inhabited. Berneray (also known as Barra Head), Pabbay,

Sandray Sandray ( gd, Sanndraigh) is one of the Barra Isles in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. It never had a large population, and has been uninhabited since 1934. It is now known for its large seabird colony. Geography Sandray is half a mile due sou ...

and

Mingulay Mingulay ( gd, Miughalaigh) is the second largest of the Bishop's Isles in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. Located south of Barra, it is known for its important seabird populations, including puffins, black-legged kittiwakes, and razorbills, ...

have been inhabited in the past. The four smallest islands are Flodday, Lingay,

Muldoanich Muldoanich is an uninhabited island in the Barra Isles archipelago at the southern extremity of the larger island chain of the Outer Hebrides in Scotland. The island is in area and rises to a maximum height of at the peak of Cruachan na h-àin ...

and Uineasan. Access to these islands can be arranged wit
Barra Fishing Charters
, who run regular trips to

from May to September and visit other islands by arrangement. The Barra Isles are featured in several

Viking Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

sagas. In addition to the larger islands thare are various smaller islets, stacks and skerries. Biruaslum is a stack to the west of Vatersay. It reaches in height and there is a ruined prehistoric fort on the southern side. Francis G. Thompson characterizes it as "high and virtually inaccessible"; James Fisher mentions a "

fulmar The fulmars are tubenosed seabirds of the family Procellariidae. The family consists of two extant species and two extinct fossil species from the Miocene. Fulmars superficially resemble gulls, but are readily distinguished by their flight on ...

flying up and down its tiny cliff."James Fisher, ''Rockall: The Islet of Birds'' 114.

Notes

References

Clan MacNeil {{WesternIsles-geo-stub