Fraoch-Eilean

Fraoch-Eilean
Location
Fraoch-Eilean
Fraoch-Eilean shown within Scotland
OS grid reference NF858581
Names
Gaelic name Fraoch-eilean
Meaning of name "heather island"
Area and summit
Area 55 ha[1]
Area rank 190=
Highest elevation Cnoc Mor 11 metres (36 ft)[2]
Population
Population No estimate available
Groupings
Island group Uists and Barra
Local Authority Na h-Eileanan Siar
If shown, area and population ranks are for all Scottish islands and all inhabited Scottish islands respectively. Population data is from 2001 census.

Fraoch-eilean is a small island north of Benbecula in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. It is about 55 hectares (140 acres) in extent and the highest point is 11 metres (36 ft). Its name derives from the Gaelic for "heather island".

It is connected to Grimsay by a causeway and there is a settlement called Seana Bhaile (Scottish Gaelic: old village). North Uist is to the north and the North Ford causeway to the west. The small islets of Eilean Roinoch and Màs Grimsay lie just offshore to the east. 19th and early 20th century Ordnance Survey maps show the island name as Seanabaily. [3]

Population

The island is not listed in the 2001 census as being inhabited,[4] although it is clear from both maps[2] and photographic evidence[5][6] that there is a resident population. The problems of defining islands in this part of the Hebrides are considerable[7] and it is likely that the population was recorded as being part of Grimsay itself, which has a population of over 800. Thus, it has not been possible to provide either an estimate of the total or to rank the island relative to other Scottish islands.[8] Ordnance Survey maps indicate a total of about a dozen buildings and a population in the range 10-35 is likely.

References

Footnotes

  1. ^ Rick Livingstone’s Tables of the Islands of Scotland (pdf) Argyll Yacht Charters. Retrieved 12 Dec 2011.
  2. ^ a b "Get-a-Map". Ordnance Survey. Retrieved 21 August 2009.
  3. ^ "Historical maps". Vision of Britain. Retrieved 18 Apr 2011.
  4. ^ See General Register Office for Scotland.
  5. ^ Fergusson, Dave (24 May 2007) "Houses on Seana Bhaile" Geograph. Retrieved 21 August 2009.
  6. ^ Wilding, Stuart (20 June 2008) "Gearraidh Dubh" Geograph. Retrieved 21 August 2009.
  7. ^ For example, Haswell-Smith (2004) treats Eileanan Iasgaich (grid reference NF785186) as a single island of 50 ha, although during some high tides it becomes several tidal islets - none of which are ever connected to the "mainland" of South Uist.
  8. ^ The only other permanently inhabited islands the General Register Office for Scotland does not provide a population statistic for are South Walls in Orkney and Eriska in Loch Linnhe. They define an island as "a mass of land surrounded by water, separate from the Scottish mainland" and although the inclusion of islands linked by bridges etc. is not clear from this definition in practice they list all but these three.