Fuiay

Fuiay
Gaelic name Fùidheigh
Meaning of name "House island" from Norse
Location
Fuiay
Fuiay shown within the Outer Hebrides
OS grid reference NF740022
Physical geography
Island group Outer Hebrides
Area 84 ha (210 acres)
Area rank 159= [1]
Highest elevation 107 m (351 ft)
Administration
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Country Scotland
Council area Comhairle nan Eilean Siar
Demographics
Population 0
References [2][3][4][5]

Fuiay (Scottish Gaelic: Fùidheigh) is an island in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. Its area is 84 ha and the unnamed highest eminence reaches 107 m. It is located immediately to the west of Flodday and about 1.5 km southwest of Hellisay. Barra lies across the waters of North Bay.

The headland of Rubha na Maighdein, Fuiay, on the left and the island of Flodaigh on the right

The island had six households located along a "street" at Rubh' an Aiseig (English: "ferry headland") in the north west at some point, probably in the early 19th century. It has been uninhabited since about 1850. There is a tidal inlet here that may have been an effective fish-trap.[4][6]

The name may be from the Norse for "house island"[5] or possibly a mixture of the Gaelic bhuidhe, meaning "yellow" and the Norse øy meaning "island".[4]

Fuiay is one of several uninhabited islands off the northeast coast of Barra and other islands in the vicinity include Orosay, Fuday and Gighay. The sea to the north west is peppered with small islets and skerries but there is an anchorage to the north of Rubh' an Aiseig sheltered by the islets of Sgeirislum to the west and Eilean Sheumais to the east.[4] Garbh Lingeigh is a larger islet further to the north in the Sound of Hellisay.

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Area and population ranks: there are c. 300 islands over 20 ha in extent and 93 permanently inhabited islands were listed in the 2011 census.
  2. ↑ 2001 UK Census per List of islands of Scotland
  3. ↑ Ordnance Survey
  4. 1 2 3 4 Haswell-Smith, Hamish (2004). The Scottish Islands. Edinburgh: Canongate. pp. 224–26. ISBN 978-1-84195-454-7.
  5. 1 2 Iain Mac an Tailleir. "Placenames" (PDF). Pàrlamaid na h-Alba. Retrieved 2007-07-23.
  6. ↑ "Overview of Fuiay". Gazetteer for Scotland. Retrieved 2008-01-04.

Coordinates: 56°59′46″N 7°22′7″W / 56.99611°N 7.36861°W / 56.99611; -7.36861


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