Inhabited west coast Scottish islands - The Outer Hebrides - Barra

 

General Description

Barra, as noted in the previous post, lies immediately to the north of Vatersay, across the Vatersay causeway. Although larger than Vatersay, Barra is still one of the smaller Hebridean islands, of a similar size to, say, Tiree or Coll. It is roughly 23 sq miles in size, about 9 miles north to south and 7 miles east to west. However, the main part of the island is roughly 7 by 7 miles. South of this main section is a small lump of a hill (Beinn Tangabhal at 332 feet). This hill lies between Vatersay to the south and the main part of Barra to the north. At the northern end of the island there is the Eoligarry peninsula (pronounced, I believe, something like Owl-E-Garry), which snakes northwards towards Eriskay and South Uist.

In my view Barra is one of the most attractive Hebridean islands, Inner or Outer. It is hard to explain why but I think this is due to the scenic variety available within such a small area. It is mainly a hill (Heabhal at 384 feet) with a clustering of satellite summits to the north. None of those satellite summits are as high as Heabhal, but Hartabhal at 356 feet and Grianan at 295 feet, come close – with most of the other, more separated, summits at around the 200 foot mark. There is an abundance of white, sandy beaches, mainly running up the east coast of the Eoligarry peninsula and along the west coast of the main part of the island (in the latter case with rocky headlands reaching out westwards into the Atlantic Ocean). Barra’s famous airport, where the planes land on the sandy beach (but only at low tide), is located on the eastern side of the Eoligarry peninsula. The name of this beach is Tràigh Mhòr – which simply means the big beach. I've read that this is the only airport in the World where planes normally land on the beach - but I cannot guarantee that's the case. The Tràigh Mhòr is backed by a narrow strip of machair and sand dunes and beyond that, to the west, lies what looks from the maps like another fine stretch of sand. This is similar to the isthmus between the north and south of Vatersay. I've never actually crossed that strip of machair to check out that western beach so I cannot promise it is as good as it looks on the map. 

The  main part of the island is circumnavigated by the A888, which provides for a scenic and enjoyable excursion, especially when trips down to the Vatersay causeway (and maybe beyond), and up to the Northern end of the Eoligarry peninsula, are included. Such a day trip can be further enjoyed by adventuring along the smattering of side roads to the more remote locations on the island. As with just about all island roads, there are small, picturesque townships dotted all along them. Situated at just about the most southerly point of the main road is the capital of Barra – Castlebay. Too small to be even a small town, Castlebay is certainly a village and not just a township. Castlebay derives it’s name from the castle which sits all alone on a rocky islet in middle of the bay. This is Kisimal Castle – the home and seat of clan MacNeil. The last time I was in Barra it was possible to visit Kisimal Castle on an organised tour but I seem to remember reading that these had been stopped – but maybe only while renovations were being carried out? It should be possible to check this before travelling to Barra, should it matter to you. Note that clan MacNeil claim to be descended from an Irish prince – but recent DNA testing seems to indicate a wholly Scandinavian heritage. Up until writing this post I has always thought that it was called Kisimul's Castle but it turns out that I was wrong about that. There was no Kisimul for it to be named after and it appears that the name derives from the norse describing the castle sitting in the middle of the bay. 

 

The Natural World

Barra's flora and fauna is generally the same as all west of Scotland islands and I didn't really want to repeat myself, throughout all the remaining blogs on the Outer Hebrides, by giving the same lists, island after island. At the same time I thought an abridged list would be handy. I then discovered that the famous online dictionary does not, in this case, provide the usual information on this. However, I managed to obtain what I was looking for by Googling 'what plants and flowers can be found on the isle of Barra' and 'what wildlife and animals can be found on the isle of Barra'. The top Google result (known as the AI overview or Featured Snippet) provided an extensive list for both the above, followed by the usual links to sites which provide further information (or confirmation). For example, I learned that there were various types of orchids, primroses and marsh marigolds along with many other flowers and plants. I also learned that there were eagles and sea eagles to be spotted along with puffins, kittiwakes, hen harriers and lapwings, to name just a few. It should be noted that while not as extensive as, say, the Uists, there are some areas of machair on Barra. This is where some of the flowers, mainly in Spring and early Summer, are to be found and where the ground nesting lapwings, for example, are also to be found. In addition to that I learned that there were otters to be seen along with, for example, seals, porpoises and various species of whales. Googling, using the above search criteria, will provide a fuller list. There are, in addition, the usual flocks of sheep, herds of cattle and red deer. Usually a walk into the hills will be required to spot the red deer. Like all west coast islands, Barra is lacking in trees – but not totally so. There are a few small copses here and there (but mainly down the east coast which is more sheltered from the south westerly winds which batter these islands almost non-stop). A picture of such a copse of trees is include in the photo section at the end, just to prove that trees can be found on Barra.

(Note: I don’t know if other search engines, like Yahoo!, display the same sort of leading AI information but if not you can always use your favourite browser to run a Google search).  

Population and Employment

Barra’s population, including; Castlebay; the townships; and all the isolated cottages and crofts,: was just over 1200 at the 2022 census. This population all lives close to the coast, mainly scattered around the circular main road, but also up the length of the Eoligarry peninsula and down the east coast of Beinn Tangabhal, towards Vatersay. There are a couple of west coast townships which straggle a bit into the hills, but not really by very far. There are also several branch roads, at the north end of the main island, leading to yet more scattered townships, but these are still on one coast or another (or close to a coast). The centre of the main island, as can be deduced, is wild and uninhabited, as is all but the east coast of Beinn Tangabhal to the south. As could be expected, the hills are the usual mixture of rough grass, heather and lots of grey rocks erupting through the surface of the slopes (like a bad case of acne on a thirteen year old).

At the time of writing this (March 2026) the main employment on Barra was tourism (folks running B&B or working in the likes of hotels and restaurants). There will also be some employment at the CalMac pier and at the airport. Then there is the seafood processing plant (Barratlantic) at Northbay along, no doubt, with the fishing required to provide the catch for the factory to process. There is also a factory making toffee and a distillery, both in Castlebay. The distillery currently produces gin, rum and vodka - with whisky in the pipeline. In addition to all of the above there is also still crofting being carried out (if not so much as was once the case). Having said that, many working a piece of croft land are also likely to be holding down paid employment of one description or another. There will also be some employment working in shops and supporting the island's infrastructure (like the electricity and water supply, for example). Note, too, that Barratlantic have diversified into areas other than just fish processing. This includes general distribution provision and the supply of farm feeds – so it’s employment base could well be growing.

  

Getting There

Getting to Barra is by one of two methods; flying into Barra airport or by car ferry. There are two possible CalMac ferry routes. The main route is via a large ferry from Oban but there is also the smaller car ferry from Eriskay. The only other way on to Eriskay is to cross over from South Uist via the causeway – but there are several ways to first get to South Uist. These will be explained in the post about South Uist. Weather conditions and breakdowns (too) often force the Oban service not to run but it is the main and busiest route. It also has to be made clear that in bad weather the Eriskay to Barra ferry will often be cancelled as well.

There are also several departure points for flights to Barra: Glasgow, Edinburgh and Inverness - although an initial search indicated that Glasgow is the only departure point, the following results immediately gave timetables for flights from all three cities. There is also the inter island service using Stornoway, Benbecula and Barra airports but an online search of this also produced conflicting results. That being the case it is probably best to phone the airport you hope to use to determine what is actually available and what isn’t.

Activities (what to do after you get there)

What is there to do on Barra once you get there? Like all west coast islands, the choices are all fairly similar: relax on a stunning sandy beach (weather permitting); explore the rocky headlands, which bracket those beaches; go for walks (including up the hills – there is a path to the summit of Heabhal on it’s eastern slopes along with an area to leave your car) and; go searching for the various plants and wild life listed above. There also seems to be a nine hole golf course (near Cleat on the main, north west part of the island). At the time of writing this (March 2026) this golf course was still in operation but I suppose it’s always best to check before heading all the way out there if this is important to you (like ‘bagging’ golf courses). I've also read that there are water sports that can be enjoyed (kayaks to be hired, for example) and also bikes to hire. Particular to Barra would be a road tour of the whole island (including all the side roads and townships) along with a tour of Kisimul Castle (should these be operating at the time of any visit). There will no doubt also be cultural events that you can go along to, but it would be best to check these out when on the island (music performances, for example). There are some ancient and historical sites to see (apart from Kisimul Castle) but I'm not going to list them here but, once again, suggest you use a Google search along the lines of 'what ancient ruins and historical sites are there to see on Barra'. This will return a comprehensive list to assist in any exploration. I think I've actually visited Barra three times but, despite being interested in such places, I've never visited any of these sites so I cannot comment upon how impressive any of them are. I think it is fair to say, however, that there's nothing of outstanding interest or importance, but that does not mean they are not worth investigating while on on the island.

Photographs

As always, a selection of photographs follow. Note that these photographs were taken over a wide range of times – from around 1975 (the square photos), around 1995 and during my visit in 2019. Some of the older ones seem to have faded a bit and some of the most recent ones were taken on overcast days – so the colours are not as vibrant as I’d like them to be. I’ve also arranged them to provide something like a clockwise tour which starts at Castlebay before heading south to Vatersay, then up the west coast before visiting Eoligarry and finally down the east coast and back to Castlebay.

 

The photo above was taken from the deck of the CalMac ferry from Oban as it was approaching the pier at Castlebay. In the picture you can see Kisimul Castle and Heabhal above the eastern end of Castlebay. Given the shape of the photograph (square) I figure this was taken around 1975.

 

 

The above photo is also of Kisimul Castle, but this time looking south from Castlebay towards Vatersay. This photgraph was taken on my last visit during the summer of 2019.

 

 

The photo above was taken on the road to Vatersay, looking back towards Castlebay. This photo was taken on my visit ~1995 – but I cannot remember which year exactly as I was very remiss about places and times until more recently (hence the leading ~ to the year).

 

 

The photo above was taken on Barra’s south coast looking towards the Vatersay causeway on my 2019 trip.

 

 

 

The above photo was taken at sunset from just above the Tangasdale beach on my ~1995 trip. This shot probably shouldn’t have been included as it does not actually show Barra with any clarity – but I thought a shot of the sunset over the Atlantic would be nice.

 

 

The picture above, of the machair at Borve, was taken on my ~1975 visit to Barra. It shows my mode of transport at the time but, more importantly, it also shows what the machair looks like once the flowers are all in bloom.

 

 

 

The photo above is of the beach at Borve. This was also taken during my ~1975 visit.

 

 

The above photo was taken at the beach at Cleat, also during my ~1975 visit to Barra.

 

 

The shot above was also taken at Cleat during my ~1975 visit, but this time of the cliffs and headlands at either end of the beach.

 

 

 

The above picture of a plane sitting near the airport buildings on the Tràigh Mhòr was taken during my~1975 visit.

 

 

 

The above shot was also taken during my ~1975 visit. It is another photo of the Tràigh Mhòr, this time attempting to show the expanse of sand at low tide. After checking with the airport that it was OK to do so, I took my beach buggy for a whirl over the sand – and I can only report that it was great fun.

 

 

 

Above is another photo of the Tràigh Mhòr but this time to also show a bit of the machair behind it. This was also taken during my ~1975 visit.

 

 

 

 

The above is yet another photo of the Tràigh Mhòr but this time out near the water line. This was also taken during my ~1975 visit and possibly while on my trip over the sand in my beach (or dune) buggy. I think this is possibly the case due to the water line being so close to me.

 

 

 

 

The photo above, also taken during my ~1975 trip, is of Tràigh Cille. Tràigh Cille is the beach immediately to the north of Tràigh Mhòr.

 

 

The above photo, also taken during ~1975 trip, is of the old jetty near Eoligarry. The piece of land in the distance, with another white beach on display, is the uninhabited island of Fuday.

 

 

 

 

The shot above, also taken during my ~1975 trip, is of another beach on the Eoligarry peninsula. I cannot be sure, as I am only going by what was scribbled on the back of the original photo many years ago, but I think this is a picture of  the beach immediately to the north of the previous photo.

 

 

 

The above shot, also taken during ~1975. is, I think, a photo of the beach immediately to the north of the previous photograph. There another very large sweep of sand at the very north of Barra (Tràigh Sgurabhal) but I don’t think that this is a photo of that beach as it does not look big enough. The point is that the Eoligarry peninsula, especially on the eastern side, is just blindingly white beach after white beach.

 

 

The above photo is part of the township of Eoligary. Taken on my 2019 visit, it is looking south towards the main part of Barra.

 

 

 

The photo above was taken during my 2019 trip. It was taken from the south side of the Tràigh Mhòr, looking back north across the beach towards Eoligarry. This shot was taken as I headed back south to explore the east coast of Barra.

 

 

 

 

The above picture was taken at the same spot and time as the previous photo – but this time looking more eastwards (therefore also 2019).

 

 

 

 

The above shot was taken on the road to Ardmhor, during my ~1975 trip. I’m not certain where exactly on the road I took this picture (no GPS in those days) but I think it’s probably getting close to the road end and looking south.

 

 

 

 

I’m not totally sure where the above photo was taken but the scribble on the back of the original says it was near Northbay, on the north east coast. Taken during my ~1975 trip, I include it just to show that there are a few trees on Barra (and the satellite view on my phone indicates that there are a few small copses, particularly on the east coast).

 

 

 

Also taken during my ~1975 visit, the above photo (going, again, from the scribble on the back of the original) is of Bruernish (or Breivg – some Barra townships seem to have two names, for some reason). This township is also on the east coast but much closer to Castlebay. I include this shot simply to show what the east coast townships look like – more rocky inlets rather than white sandy beaches.

 

 

 

 

 

The photo above, taken during 2019, is of Castlebay with Kisimul Castle sitting in the middle of the bay. Vatersay is in the middle distance and it’s possible to see both where the causeway to Vatersay lies and where the isthmus between both parts of Vatersay is. In the further distance you can see uninhabited (these days) Mingulay, at the very southern tip of the Outer Hebrides.