Pobull Fhinn ( gd, Poball Fhinn ) is a

stone circle A stone circle is a ring of standing stones. Most are found in Northwestern Europe – especially in Britain, Ireland, and Brittany – and typically date from the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age, with most being built from 3000 BC. The be ...

on the Isle of

North Uist North Uist ( gd, Uibhist a Tuath; sco, North Uise) is an island and community in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. Etymology In Donald Munro's ''A Description of the Western Isles of Scotland Called Hybrides'' of 1549, North Uist, Benbecula and ...

in the

Outer Hebrides The Outer Hebrides () or Western Isles ( gd, Na h-Eileanan Siar or or ("islands of the strangers"); sco, Waster Isles), sometimes known as the Long Isle/Long Island ( gd, An t-Eilean Fada, links=no), is an island chain off the west coast ...

. The name is Gaelic. The first word has been variously spelt as ''pobull'', ''poball'', ''pobul'' or as plural ''pobuill''. The phrase can be translated as "Fionn's people", "the white/fair people", or "Finn's tent". The plural form ''Pobuill Fhinn'' can be translated as "Fionn's peoples" and is unlikely to be correct. The stones were probably named after the legendary Gaelic hero

Fionn mac Cumhaill Fionn mac Cumhaill ( ; Old and mga, Find or ''mac Cumail'' or ''mac Umaill''), often anglicized Finn McCool or MacCool, is a hero in Irish mythology, as well as in later Scottish and Manx folklore. He is leader of the ''Fianna'' bands of ...

known in English as Finn or Fingal. The present title may constitute a modern rationalisation of a word now obsolete in colloquial Scottish Gaelic: ''Pùball Fhinn'' ("Fionn's tent") was a common phrase in the ancient Fenian cycle of Gaelic lore and indicated his nomadic residence. The stones are also known as ''Sòrnach Coir' Fhinn'', or "the fireplace of Fionn's cauldron" and locally as ''Sòrnach a' Phobaill'' ("the fireplace of the People"). The former name is similar to that of ''Sòrnaichean Coir' Fhinn'' ("the fireplaces of Fionn's cauldron") near

Kensaleyre Kensaleyre ( gd, Ceann Sàil Eighre) is a scattered crofting township, part of a group of settlements clustered around the A87 road on the shore of Loch Snizort Beag on the Trotternish peninsula of the island of Skye in the Highlands and Island ...

in Skye and ''Suidhe Coire Fhionn'' ("the site of Fionn's cauldron") in Arran. ''Coire Fhinn'' ("Fionn's cauldron") was used to cook the deer that he and his fellow hunters had killed. Of the several stone circles on the island, Pobull Fhinn is the most conspicuous. It is located on the south side of Ben Langass, and it possibly dates from the second millennium BC. It is technically an oval rather than a circle, measuring about from east to west and from north to south. Although situated on a natural plateau, the north side of the enclosed area has been excavated to about . At least two dozen stones can be counted, some eight on the northern half and 16 on the southern half, but parts of the circle are devoid of stones. About within the circle at the east side is a tall single stone, and there are two fallen slabs about beyond the western edge. Pobull Fhinn is located at

grid reference A projected coordinate system, also known as a projected coordinate reference system, a planar coordinate system, or grid reference system, is a type of spatial reference system that represents locations on the Earth using cartesian coordin ...

NF 8427 6502 . It can be reached from a footpath beginning near the Langass Lodge Hotel. Alternatively, it can be reached from the footpath to

Barpa Langass Barpa Langass (also known as Langass Barp or Langash Barp; gd, Barpa Langais ), is a Neolithic chambered cairn on the Isle of North Uist in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. It measures about 72 feet in diameter by 18 feet in height, and is ar ...

that starts from the A867 about southwest of

Lochmaddy Lochmaddy ( gd, Loch nam Madadh, "Loch of the Hounds") is the administrative centre of North Uist in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland. ''Na Madaidhean'' (the wolves/hounds) are rocks in the bay after which the loch, and subsequently the village, are ...

; Barpa Langass is a walk up Ben Langass from Pobull Fhinn. The jagged shapes of the stones silhouetted against Loch Langass, Loch Eport, and Eaval make Pobull Fhinn one of the most visited and most photographed sites on North Uist.

Sources

* * {{Prehistoric Western Isles Stone circles in Na h-Eileanan Siar Archaeological sites in the Outer Hebrides North Uist Scheduled monuments in Scotland