9059: St Colm’s Isle, Lewis

St Colm’s Isle is a small island in Loch Erisort, just off Cromore and Crobeg, acessible on foot from the mainland at low tide. It is rich in remains, mostly notably an early Christian chapel. At one time it contained the only burial ground in Lochs parish, which by the end of the 19th century was very overcrowded.

Murchadh Mor, or Murdo Mackenzie, seventeenth century factor to the Earl of Seaforth in Lewis, Chief of the Mackenzies, lived on St Columba’s Isle. He composed An Làir Dhonn (The Brown Mare. The island was subsequently held as a tack by other chamberlains, including George Gillanders ca. 1780.

Derick Thomson composed a poem about the island, in English and Gaelic.