Pabbay () is one of the
Barra Isles
The Barra Isles, also known as the Bishop's Isles, are a small archipelago in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. They lie south of the island of Barra, for which they are named. The group consists of nine islands and numerous rocky islets, skerries ...
at the southern tip of the
Outer Hebrides
The Outer Hebrides ( ) or Western Isles ( , or ), sometimes known as the Long Isle or Long Island (), is an Archipelago, island chain off the west coast of mainland Scotland.
It is the longest archipelago in the British Isles. The islan ...
of
Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
. The name comes from ''Papey'', which is Norse for "island of the ''
papar
The ''Papar'' (; from Latin , via Old Irish, meaning "father" or "pope") were Irish monks who took eremitic residence in parts of Iceland before that island's habitation by the Norsemen of Scandinavia. Their existence is attested by the early ...
''" (i.e. monks). At only , it never had a large population, and, after all the able-bodied men were killed in a fierce storm while out on a fishing trip on 1 May 1897, it was abandoned in the early twentieth century.
The
National Trust for Scotland
The National Trust for Scotland () is a Scottish Building preservation and conservation trusts in the UK, conservation organisation. It is the largest membership organisation in Scotland and describes itself as "the charity that cares for, sha ...
has owned the island since 2000. With only two sheep left on the island in July 2007 and few, if any, other permanent mammalian residents, Pabbay is consequently home in summer to many ground-nesting birds due to the absence of predators.
The island was the site of a
Celtic
Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to:
Language and ethnicity
*pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia
**Celts (modern)
*Celtic languages
**Proto-Celtic language
*Celtic music
*Celtic nations
Sports Foot ...
hermit
A hermit, also known as an eremite (adjectival form: hermitic or eremitic) or solitary, is a person who lives in seclusion. Eremitism plays a role in a variety of religions.
Description
In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Chr ...
age, and a
Pictish
Pictish is an extinct Brittonic Celtic language spoken by the Picts, the people of eastern and northern Scotland from late antiquity to the Early Middle Ages. Virtually no direct attestations of Pictish remain, short of a limited number of geog ...
carved stone dates from that period. Remains of an
Iron Age
The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...
settlement can also been seen on Pabbay.
The name of Pabbay is used for one of the three houses of Castlebay Secondary School. The other two are Mingulay and Sandray.
Areas of Interest
Bàgh Bàn is the name applied to a large bay situated on the SE coast of the island. It's the principal bay on the coast of the island and is well sheltered from the North and West - this made it the ideal area for historical settlers.
Rosinish (or Rubha Phabach) is a small peninsular headland situated on the East coast of the island. It lies in a South-Easterly direction and is only attached to the mainland of the island by a small natural arch.
Steir is the narrow rock which joins Rosinish to the mainland.
Rock Climbing
Composed of
Lewisian gneiss
The Lewisian complex or Lewisian gneiss is a suite of Precambrian metamorphic rocks that outcrop in the northwestern part of Scotland, forming part of the Hebridean terrane and the North Atlantic Craton. These rocks are of Archaean and Paleopr ...
, Pabbay is "one of the finest climbing venues in the UK".
This includes the climbing route The Great Arch, which is graded E8 6c.
"Pabbay"
UKClimbing.com. Retrieved 12 September 2013.
See also
* List of islands of Scotland
This is a list of islands of Scotland, the mainland of which is part of the island of Great Britain. Also included are various other related tables and lists. The definition of an offshore island used in this list is "land that is surrounded by ...
Footnotes
External links
Scottish climbers blogtopo guide
{{coord, 56.85880, N, 7.57260, W, region:GB_source:enwiki-osgb36(NL605880), display=title
Barra Isles
National Trust for Scotland properties
Uninhabited islands of the Outer Hebrides
Former populated places in Scotland
Natural arches of Scotland