Pabbay, Barra, Scotland

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Pabbay, Barra, Scotland
Location
Pabbay, Barra, Scotland (Scotland)
Pabbay, Barra, Scotland
Pabbay, Barra, Scotland
Pabbay, Barra, Scotland shown within Scotland.
OS grid reference: NL605880
Names
Gaelic name: Pabaigh
Norse name: Papey
Meaning of name: Island of the papar
Area and Summit
Area: 250 ha
Area rank (Scottish islands): 98
Highest elevation: 171 m
Population
Population (2001): 0


Groupings
Island Group: Outer Hebrides
Local Authority: Outer Hebrides
Scotland
References: [1][2][3]
Pabbay can be made out in the distance in this picture
Pabbay can be made out in the distance in this picture

Pabbay (Scottish Gaelic: Pabaigh) is one of the Barra Isles at the southern tip of the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. The name comes from Papey, which is Norse for "Island of the papar (Culdee)" At only 250 ha (one square mile), 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 1st May, 1897, it was abandoned in the early twentieth century.

The National Trust for Scotland have owned the island since 2000. With only two sheep left on the island (at July 2007) and few if any other permanent mammalian residents, Pabbay is home in summer to many ground-nesting birds.

The island was the site of a Celtic hermitage, and a Pictish carved stone dates from that period. Remains of an Iron Age settlement can also been seen on Pabbay.

[edit] References

  1. ^ 2001 UK Census per List of islands of Scotland
  2. ^ Ordnance Survey
  3. ^ Haswell-Smith, Hamish (2004) The Scottish Islands. Edinburgh. Canongate.

Coordinates: 56.85880° N 7.57260° W