Old Photograph Women Curing Herring Castlebay Island of Barra Scotland


Old photograph of women curing herring at the harbour in Castlebay on the Island of Barra, Outer Hebrides, Scotland. Barra is the second southernmost inhabited island of the Outer Hebrides. Alexander, Lord of the Isles granted the island to the MacNeil clan in 1427. The clan held the island until 1838, when Roderick MacNeil, the 40th Chief of the Clan, sold the island to Colonel Gordon of Cluny. Gordon expelled most of the inhabitants in order to make way for sheep farming. The displaced islanders variously went to the Scottish mainland, Australia, New Zealand, the United States of America and Canada. Barra was restored to MacNeil ownership in 1937 when the Barra estate, which encompassed most of the island, was bought by Robert MacNeil, a U.S. architect, and 45th chief of the clan.



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