Northbay

For similarly named places, see North Bay (disambiguation).
Northbay
Scottish Gaelic: Am Bàgh a Tuath

Fishing boats at Northbay
Northbay
 Northbay shown within the Outer Hebrides
LanguageScottish Gaelic
English
OS grid referenceNF702033
Civil parishBarra
Council areaNa h-Eileanan Siar
Lieutenancy areaWestern Isles
CountryScotland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post town ISLE OF BARRA
Postcode district HS9
Dialling code 01871
Police Scottish
Fire Scottish
Ambulance Scottish
EU Parliament Scotland
UK ParliamentNa h-Eileanan an Iar
Scottish ParliamentNa h-Eileanan an Iar
List of places
UK
Scotland

Coordinates: 57°00′11″N 7°25′59″W / 57.003°N 7.433°W / 57.003; -7.433

Northbay (Scottish Gaelic: Am Bàgh a Tuath) is a township and community in the north of Barra in the Outer Hebrides, off the west coast of Scotland. Northbay is within the parish of Barra.[1]

There was a long history of settlement in the area - the neolithic standing stones at Borve testify to this. Once the Celts arrived here from Ulster, the island spent 800 years firmly under the stewardship of the MacNeil clan engaged in feudal agriculture and fishing. When Kisimul Castle was abandoned in 1795, the clan chief came to live at Eoligarry House and remained there until Colonel Cluny bought the island from the clan in 1838.

In 1939, a tarred road finally connected Northbay with Castlebay - formerly people either walked or used the sea to ship goods to the main port. Despite being a small island, communications were before this quite bad between the north and the south. The building of the road was largely the result of a campaign by Compton Mackenzie, author of Whisky Galore! who was quite well-connected.

References

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This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 2/19/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.