Point ( gd, An Rubha), also known as the Eye Peninsula, is a peninsula some 11 km long in the Outer Hebrides (or Western Isles),

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. The majority of Point is connected to the rest of the Isle of Lewis by a narrow

isthmus An isthmus (; ; ) is a narrow piece of land connecting two larger areas across an expanse of water by which they are otherwise separated. A tombolo is an isthmus that consists of a spit or bar, and a strait is the sea counterpart of an isthmus ...

, one mile in length and at one point barely 100 metres wide. The peninsula is just 6 km east of the regional capital of Stornoway, however the district of Point actually starts at the Parkend estate on Stornoway's outskirts. Point is home to around 2,600 people and is one of the few districts of the Western Isles where the population is increasing. There are about 17 villages and hamlets in Point: (listed west to east)

Melbost Melbost ( gd, Mealabost) is a traditionally Gaelic-speaking village in Point on the east coast of the Isle of Lewis, in Scotland's north-west. It is largely a crofting township and is about east of Stornoway at the head of an isthmus connecti ...

(Mealabost) (Including Stornoway Airport),

Branahuie Branahuie ( gd, Bràigh na h-Aoidhe) is a village on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland. Branahuie is within the parish of Stornoway, and is situated on the A866. It is also close to Stornoway, Stornoway Airport and Melbost ...

(Bràigh na h-Aoidhe),

Aignish Aignish ( gd, Aiginis) is located northwest of Knock and east of Stornoway on the east coast of the Isle of Lewis, in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland. The township is at the island side of the isthmus connecting to the Eye peninsula. Aignish is wit ...

(Aiginis), Knock (An Cnoc), Swordale (Suardail), Garrabost, Lower Bayble (Pabail Iarach), Eagleton (Baile na h-Iolaire),

Upper Bayble Bayble ( gd, Pabail) is a large village in Point (''An Rubha''), on the Isle of Lewis, east of Stornoway. Bayble is also within the parish of Stornoway. There are around 400 people living in Bayble. It is separated into Upper and Lower Bayble ...

(Pabail Uarach),

Shulishader Shulishader () is a small village with a population of around 120 people in Point, Outer Hebrides on the Isle of Lewis, Scotland. Located on the north-western side of the Eye Peninsula, it overlooks Broad Bay (Western Isles), Broad Bay. Most o ...

(Sulaisiader, usually referred to as Shader), Sheshader (Seisiader),

Flesherin Flesherin ( gd, Na Fleisirean) is a small village on the Point peninsula of the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides. Located near Portnaguran, the village has a population of around 100. Flesherin is within the parish of Stornoway. Flesherin i ...

(Fleisirin), Cnoc Amhlaigh,

Portnaguran Portnaguran () is a settlement situated within Point, on the Isle of Lewis, in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland. Portnaguran is the township at the north-easternmost point of the peninsula. It lies southwest of Tiumpan Head and just south of the h ...

(Port nan Giuran), Aird,

Broker A broker is a person or firm who arranges transactions between a buyer and a seller for a commission when the deal is executed. A broker who also acts as a seller or as a buyer becomes a principal party to the deal. Neither role should be confu ...

(Brocair), and

Portvoller Portvoller ( gd, Port Mholair) is a small village on the north tip of the Eye Peninsula (which along with Melbost and Parkend makes up Point), on the Isle of Lewis in northwestern Scotland. It is on the A866 from the Outer Hebrides' only town, ...

(Port Mholair).

Education

Point is served by Sgoil an Rubha (Point School), a primary school which opened in 2011 in

Bayble Bayble ( gd, Pabail) is a large village in Point, Outer Hebrides, Point (''An Rubha''), on the Isle of Lewis, east of Stornoway, Outer Hebrides, Stornoway. Bayble is also within the parish of Stornoway. There are around 400 people living in Ba ...

, built on the site of Bayble primary and junior secondary school. There was a long debate about the new school, leading to a gap of over 10 years between the first plans and the building of the school. The school took a year to build, and was the first of a number of new schools built in the Western Isles. There were three primary schools in Point: Bayble, Knock and Aird. These fed into Bayble junior secondary school, which closed when the new school opened, reflecting the decline in the school-age population. There is now no junior secondary school in Point; Sgoil an Rubha feeds into the Nicolson Institute in Stornoway for secondary education.

Heritage Sites

At the eastern end of the isthmus (''Am Bràighe'' in Gaelic) are the ruins of the Eye Church, which are all that remain of a building dedicated to St Columba. This was among the largest pre-Reformation Churches in the Western Isles. Although the present buildings are probably medieval, the Church is reputedly on the site of the

cell Cell most often refers to: * Cell (biology), the functional basic unit of life Cell may also refer to: Locations * Monastic cell, a small room, hut, or cave in which a religious recluse lives, alternatively the small precursor of a monastery ...

of St Catan, a contemporary of St Columba. This is the burial ground of 19 of the Chiefs of the

MacLeod MacLeod, McLeod and Macleod ( ) which cited: are surnames in the English language. Generally, the names are considered to be Anglicised forms of the Scottish Gaelic ', meaning "son of '". One of the earliest occurrences of the surname is of Gi ...

s of Lewis. There are two old carved commemorative slabs, one depicts a warrior, believed to be Roderick, 7th Chief; while the other is Margaret, daughter of Roderick MacLeod of Lewis, who died in 1503. In recent years, the land reform struggle of the 19th century in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland is being recognised, and the

Riots of 1888 are commemorated by a memorial adjacent to the Eye Church. Tiumpan Head

On the north-west side of the peninsula and 30m offshore is Stac Mor Garrabost. Investigated by archaeologists in 1990s as part of the Coastal Erosion Assessment project and then again in the 2000s for The Severe Terrain Archaeological Campaign (STAC) little is known about the site except that there are the remains of structures on the

sea stack A stack or sea stack is a geology, geological landform consisting of a steep and often vertical column or columns of rock in the sea near a coast, formed by Coastal_erosion#Wave_action, wave erosion. Stacks are formed over time by wind and wate ...

Notable people from Point

Iain Crichton Smith Iain Crichton Smith, (Gaelic: ''Iain Mac a' Ghobhainn''; 1 January 1928 – 15 October 1998) was a Scottish poet and novelist, who wrote in both English and Gaelic. He was born in Glasgow, but moved to the Isle of Lewis at the age of two, ...

: Poet and author from Bayble *

Ishbel MacAskill Isabella Margaret MacAskill (née MacIver, 14 March 1941 – 31 March 2011) was a heritage activist and traditional Scottish Gaelic singer and teacher, often referred to as the "Gaelic diva". Early life She was born in Loanhead, near Edinburgh ...

: Scottish Gaelic singer from Broker *

Stuart Braithwaite Stuart Leslie Braithwaite (born 10 May 1976) is a Scottish musician, singer and songwriter. He is the guitarist of post-rock band Mogwai, with whom he has recorded ten studio albums. He is also a member of the British alternative rock supergrou ...

: Lead singer of the band

Mogwai Mogwai () are a Scottish post-rock band, formed in 1995 in Glasgow. The band consists of Stuart Braithwaite (guitar, vocals), Barry Burns (guitar, piano, synthesizer, vocals), Dominic Aitchison (bass guitar), and Martin Bulloch (drums). Mog ...

, mother is from

. * Calum MacDonald: Retired MP for the Western Isles * Anne MacKenzie: Journalist from Point *

Ronnie McKinnon Ronald McKinnon (born 20 August 1940) is a Scottish former professional Association football, footballer, who played for Rangers F.C., Rangers and the Scotland national football team, Scotland national team. Career Rangers McKinnon, a Defender ...

Rangers FC Rangers Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the Govan district of Glasgow which plays in the Scottish Premiership. Although not its official name, it is often referred to as Glasgow Rangers outside Scotland. The fou ...

football player, Capped for Scotland 28 times, Lives in

. His connection with the island lies in

Carloway Carloway ( gd, Càrlabhagh, IPA: �kʰaːɾɫ̪ə.ɤː is a crofting township and a district on the west coast of the Isle of Lewis, in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland. The district has a population of around 500. Carloway township is within the par ...

, on the other side of the island, where his mother came from. * Donald Morrison: Footballer for

Dumbarton Dumbarton (; also sco, Dumbairton; ) is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. In 2006, it had an estimated population of 19,990. Dumbarton was the ca ...

, and formerly for Point F.C. and

Inverness Caledonian Thistle Inverness Caledonian Thistle Football Club, commonly known as Caley Thistle, is a professional football club based in Inverness, Scotland. The team currently competes in the Scottish Championship, the second tier of the Scottish Professional ...

References

External links

Photo of the Aignish memorialCommunity websiteUrras Eaglais na h-Aoidhe (The Ui Church Trust)
{{Lewis and Harris Peninsulas of Scotland Isle of Lewis Landforms of the Outer Hebrides