Point, Outer Hebrides
Point (Scottish Gaelic: An Rubha), also known as the Eye Peninsula, is a peninsula in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland, connected to the rest of the Isle of Lewis by a narrow isthmus, one mile in length and barely 100 metres wide. Point, situated very close to regional capital Stornoway, is home to around 2,600 people and is one of the few districts of the Western Isles or Outer Hebrides of Scotland where the population is actually increasing. The school population of Point is decreasing as much as the rest of Scotland,
Education
Point now features a brand newly built school which opened in 2011 in Bayble, the first of a number of new schools being built in the Western Isles. The school was built more than ten years after plans were first made due to lots of debating. The school takes in the whole of Point. Originally Point had three schools Knock, Aird and Bayble, which all closed when the new school opened (the new school is on the same site as the original Bayble school and took one year to complete.
History
There are two historical sites of interest at the eastern end of the isthmus (Am Bràighe as it is known in Gaelic). The ruins of the Eye Church are all that remain of a building dedicated to St. Columba. It is among the largest pre-Reformation Churches in the Western Isles. Although the present buildings are probably medieval, the Church is reputedly on the site of the cell of St. Catan, a contemporary of St. Columba. This is the burial ground of nineteen of the Chiefs of the MacLeods of Lewis. There are two old carved commemorative slabs on the walls of the larger building: one depicts a warrior and is believed to be Roderick, 7th Chief; while the other is for Margaret, daughter of Roderick MacLeod of Lewis, who died in 1503.
In recent years, the land reform struggle of the nineteenth century in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland is being recognised and the Aignish Riots of 1888 are commemorated by a memorial adjacent to the Eye Church.
Major villages in Point include Portvoller, Portnaguran, Aird, Bayble, Garrabost, Swordale and Knock.
Famous people from Point
- Iain Crichton Smith: Poet and Author from Bayble
- Stuart Braithwaite: Lead singer of the band Mogwai, mother is from Flesherin.
- Calum MacDonald: Retired MP for the Western Isles
- Anne MacKenzie: Journalist from Point
- Ronnie McKinnon: Rangers FC football player, Capped for Scotland 28 times, Lives in Flesherin. His connection with the island lies in Carloway, on the other side of the island, where his mother came from.
External links
Coordinates: 58°13′N 6°12′W / 58.217°N 6.200°W
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