Everything about Tiree totally explained
Tiree (
Scottish Gaelic: Tiriodh) is an
island in the
Scottish Inner Hebrides southwest of
Coll. It has an area of 30 square miles and a population of around 800 people. The low-lying island is highly fertile, and
crofting, alongside
tourism, are the main sources of
employment for the islanders.
Geography
The main
village on Tiree is
Scarinish, from which
ferries sail to
Arinagour on
Coll and to
Oban on the mainland. There is also an
airport in nearby Crossapol. The island's other settlements include Hynish and Sandaig, both of which boast small
museums.
The roads on Tiree, in common with many other small Islands, are nearly all
single-track roads. There are passing places, locally called 'pockets', where cars must wait to enable oncoming traffic to pass or overtake.
The highest point on Tiree is Ben Hynish to the south of the island which rises to 141 metres (463 feet).
History
Tiree is known for the
first century BC Dùn Mòr
broch, for the prehistoric carved Ringing Stone and for the birds of the Ceann a' Mhara headland. Tiree is also popular for
windsurfing, having hosted the
Corona Extra PWA World Cup Finals in 2007
, and has a
radar station which tracks
civil aircraft.
In
1770, half of the island was held by fourteen farmers who had drained land for hay and pasture. Instead of exporting live cattle (which were often exhausted by the long journey to market and so fetched low prices), they began to export
salt beef in barrels to get better prices. The rest of the island was let to forty-five groups of tenants on
co-operative Joint Farms: agricultural organisations probably dating from clan times. Field strips were allocated by annual ballot. Sowing and harvesting dates were decided communally. It is reported that in 1774, Tiresians were 'well-clothed and well-fed, having an abundance of corn and cattle'.
Its name derives from
Tir Iodh, 'land of the corn', from the days of the 6th-century Celtic missionary and abbot
St Columba (d.
597). Tiree provided the monastic community on the island of
Iona, south-east of the island, with grain. A number of early Christian monasteries once existed on Tiree itself, and several sites have stone cross-slabs from this period, for example St Patrick's Chapel, Ceann a' Mhara (NL 938 401) and Soroby (NL 984 416).
A large
RAF airfield was built on Tiree during
World War II; this became the
civil airport after the war. There was also an RAF
Chain Home radar station at Kilkenneth and an RAF Chain Home Low radar station at Beinn Hough. These were preceded by a temporary RAF Advanced Chain Home radar station at Port Mor and an RAF Chain Home Beam radar station at Barrapol. Post war there was RAF Scarinish
ROTOR radar station at Beinn Ghott.
Culture
The island is known for its
vernacular architecture, including 'blackhouses' and 'white houses', many retaining their traditional thatched roofs, as well as its unique 'pudding' or 'spotted houses' where only the
mortar is painted white.
Tiree has a considerable percentage of Gaelic speakers (48.6% from the 2001 Census) which is high for the Inner Hebrides.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Tiree'.
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