The Isle of Benbecula ( ; or ) is an island of the Outer Hebrides in the Atlantic Ocean off the west coast of Scotland. In the 2022 census it had a resident population of 1,255 including a sizable percentage of Roman Catholics. It is in a zone administered by or the Western Isles Council. The island is about from west to east and a similar distance from north to south. It lies between the islands of North Uist and South Uist and is connected to both by road causeways. Benbecula's main settlement and administrative centre is Balivanich (Scottish Gaelic: Baile a' Mhanaich, meaning "Town of the Monk").
In 1746, Bonnie Prince Charlie was caught in a storm and forced to land on Benbecula. The population of Benbecula were sympathetic to the Jacobite cause, and smuggled him off the island to safety, as the song has it: "over the sea to Skye".
In 2006, local residents took control of parts of the island in a community buy-out. The previous landowners, a sporting syndicate, sold their estate, which included the Isle of Benbecula, South Uist and Eriskay, for £4.5 million, to a community-owned organisation known as Stòras Uibhist, which now manages the land in perpetuity.
Language Etymology The first written record of the name is as "Beanbeacla" in 1449."Benbecula". Encyclopedia.com quoting Mills, A.D. (2003) A Dictionary of British Place-Names. Retrieved 16 April 2011. The names and are used in Scottish Gaelic today. All these names are assumed to derive from Peighinn nam Fadhla (pronounced ) "pennyland of the fords" as the island is low-lying.
The second element is a loan from Norse vaðil(l) "ford" which was borrowed as Gaelic fadhail (genitive fadhla).Oftedal, M. The Gaelic of Leurbost Norsk Tidskrift for Sprogvidenskap 1956 Through the process of reverse lenition fadhla, with the ethnonymic suffix -ach, has led to the formation of Badhlach "a person from Benbecula".
Other interpretations that have been suggested over the years are Beinn Bheag a' bhFaodhla, supposedly meaning the "little mountain of the ford", Beinn a' Bhuachaille, meaning "the herdsman's mountain" and from , meaning "bare hill".This last according to Alasdair Mac Mhaighstir Alasdair- see Robert Forbes (1895), The Lyon in Mourning: Or a Collection of Speeches, Letters, Journals Etc., Relative to the Affairs of Prince Charles Edward Stuart. Volume I, Printed at the University Press by T. and A. Constable for the Scottish History Society. Page 326.
The island is also known in Gaelic poetry as An t-Eilean Dorcha "the dark island".
Current language use Benbecula has historically been a very strong Gaelic-speaking area. In both the 1901 and the 1921 censuses, all parishes were reported to be over 75% Gaelic-speaking. By 1971, Benbecula and South Uist were classed as 50–74% Gaelic-speaking.Mac an Tàilleir, Iain (2004) (PowerPoint ) Linguae Celticae. Retrieved 1 June 2008.
It remains a relatively strong Gaelic-speaking area in spite of a continued decline. In the 2001 census, Benbecula overall had 56% Gaelic speakers. The weakest Gaelic-speaking area is Balivanich, with only 37%. All other areas on Benbecula range between 74% (Lionacleit) and 62% (Gramsdale and Uachdar).
Geology In common with the rest of the Western Isles, Benbecula is formed from the oldest rocks in Britain, the Lewisian gneiss which dates from the Archaean eon. Some around Ruabhal is described as Scourian gneiss of ortho-amphibolite composition. The direction of inclination of layered textures or foliation in this metamorphic rock varies across the island. Pseudotachylites are developed in certain areas whilst dykes and metasediments are noted at various localities. The island is traversed by numerous normal faults most of which run broadly NW-SE though others run NNW-SSE. The Outer Hebrides Thrust, a legacy of the Caledonian orogeny, lies just off the eastern coast of the island and is seen on neighbouring Wiay and Marigaidh. Recent geological deposits include blown sand which is found around Balivanich and the airport and peat which though widespread in pockets, is found in larger quantities in the centre of the island.
Geography
The island is about from west to east and a similar distance from north to south. It lies between the islands of North Uist and South Uist; it is connected to both by road causeways. Travel to any of the other Hebridean islands, or to the British mainland, is by air or sea. Benbecula Airport on the island has daily flights to Glasgow, Stornoway and Barra. A direct service to Inverness was introduced in 2006 but discontinued in May 2007. There are no direct ferry services from Benbecula to the mainland, but a service operated by Caledonian MacBrayne from Lochboisdale on South Uist provides a five-hour crossing to Oban on the mainland, whilst another service from Lochmaddy on North Uist provides a two-hour crossing to Uig on the Inner Hebridean island of Skye, and hence to the mainland via the Skye Bridge. Ferry services from the islands of Berneray (linked by causeway to North Uist) and Eriskay (linked to South Uist) connect to the other Outer Hebridean islands of Harris and Barra respectively.
There is a dense cluster of lochs across almost the entire island, and almost the whole island is below in elevation.
Climate Benbecula has an extremely moderated temperate oceanic climate (Köppen: Cfb ), due to its island location. The nearest station to Benbecula is now South Uist, away. However, a long-standing weather station used to report directly from Benbecula, where the highest temperature ever reported in the Western Isles was recorded at on 30 July 1948.
Settlements Benbecula's main settlement is Balivanich (Scottish Gaelic: Baile a' Mhanaich, meaning "Town of the Monk") in the northwest. It is the main administrative centre for Benbecula, North Uist, South Uist and nearby islands, and has the council offices and the administrative centre for MOD Hebrides on South Uist, which is managed by QinetiQ. The village is also home to the airport and the island's bank.
Other settlements include Craigstrome, a tiny hamlet in the south-east of Benbecula. In contrast to the cultivated west coast of the island, the eastern half is a mixture of freshwater lochs, moorland, bog and deeply indenting sea lochs. Craigstrome is near Ruabhal, Benbecula's highest hill at .
The township of Lionacleit houses the island's main secondary school, which also doubles as a community centre, with a swimming pool, cafeteria, sports facilities, a small museum and a library."Sgoil Lionacleit" Comhairle nan Eilean Siar. Retrieved 4 July 2010. Next door to this is the Lionacleit campus of Lews Castle College. Lionacleit lies on the west coast road, about from its junction with the north–south spinal road near Creagorry.
Creagorry is in the south of the island, near the causeway to South Uist. The Co-op here is the main supermarket for the south of the island and for the north of South Uist. Borve Castle is near Lionacleit.
The RAF radar station RRH Benbecula monitors the northern Atlantic, but is located on the west coast of North Uist.
Nearby islands
In addition to South and North Uist, there are numerous islands off the north, east and south coasts. To the north of Balivanich is Baleshare, and further east is Flodaigh, which is connected to Benbecula by another causeway. Beyond Flodaigh are Grimsay and Ronay. Off the east coast there are numerous small islands in Loch Uisgebhagh and beyond, including Bearran and Orasaigh Uisgeabhagh. Eileanan ChearabhaighAt in the south east have a total area of spread over several islands, the largest of which is about in extent. Further south is the larger Wiay and west from there a profusion of skerries and small islands lie to the north of Bagh nam Faoileann. These include Seana Bhaile, a second Grimsay, Fodragaigh, Eilean na Cille and Triallabreac.
History Early history
A number of standing stones from the Neolithic period are scattered throughout the island, including the remains of a stone circle at Rubha Bhidein, adjacent to the traditional ford to Grimsay. In addition to these, the remains of two chambered cairns lie between Loch Ba Una, and Loch nan Clachan. A Beaker site has been identified a Rossinish.
The island is rich in built remains from the Iron Age, though they are generally in poor condition. A number of small island forts can be found throughout Benbecula, particularly on Loch Olabhat, but the most substantial is Dun Buidhe, near Balivanich, which has a series of causeways linking it to the loch shore, via Eilean Dubh (Black Island); a wheelhouse was also present nearby (a better preserved wheelhouse survives on the adjacent island of Grimsay), at which Iron Age pottery was found.
At the shore near Dun Buidhne was found a Class 1 Pictish symbol stone, inscribed with two basic symbols one of the only indications anywhere in the Outer Hebrides that Picts had been present. Traditional accounts claim that Ternan, an Irish missionary of the late 5th/early 6th century, established a chapel to the south of Dun Buidhe, from which he sought to convert the Picts to Christianity; Balivanich takes its name from this supposed establishment.
Kingdom
In the 9th century Viking settlers established the Kingdom of the Isles throughout the Hebrides. Nevertheless, although evidence of Viking settlement has been found in both North and South Uist, there has not yet been found any sign of Viking settlement on Benbecula itself. Following Norwegian unification, the Kingdom of the Isles became a crown dependency of the Norwegian king; to the Norwegians the Kingdom was Suðreyjar (meaning southern isles). Malcolm III of Scotland acknowledged in writing that Suðreyjar were not Scottish, and king Edgar quitclaimed any residual doubts.
However, in the mid 12th century, Somerled, a Norse-Gael of uncertain origin, launched a coup, which made Suðreyjar entirely independent. Following his death, Norwegian authority was nominally restored, but in practice the kingdom was divided between Somerled's heirs (), and the dynasty that Somerled had deposed (the Crovan dynasty). The MacRory, a branch of Somerled's heirs, ruled Benbecula, as well as Uist, Barra, Eigg, Rùm, the Rough Bounds, Bute, Arran, and northern Jura.Kingship and Unity, Scotland 1000–1306, G. W. S. Barrow, Edinburgh University Press, 1981Galloglas: Hebridean and West Highland Mercenary Warrior Kindreds in Medieval Ireland, John Marsden, 2003Lismore: The Great Garden, Robert Hay, 2009, Birlinn LtdProceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, 90 (1956–1957), A. A. M. Duncan, A. L. Brown, pages 204-205The Kingdom of the Isles: Scotland's Western Seaboard, R. A. McDonald, 1997, Tuckwell Press
In the 13th century, despite Edgar's quitclaim, Scottish forces attempted to conquer parts of Suðreyjar, culminating in the indecisive Battle of Largs. In 1266, the matter was settled by the Treaty of Perth, which transferred the whole of Suðreyjar to Scotland, in exchange for a very large sum of money. The treaty expressly preserved the status of the rulers of Suðreyjar; the MacRory lands, excepting Bute, Arran, and Jura, became the Lordship of Garmoran, a quasi-independent crown dependency, rather than an intrinsic part of Scotland.
Lordship