Things you didn't know about the Isle of Barra

Barra is the home of Celtic twilight

The Isle of Barra is the smallest and the most remote inhabited island in the Outer Hebrides. Many of the population of just over 1,000 still speak Gaelic and, as on Benbecula and South Uist, there is a strong Roman Catholic tradition. This is in marked contrast to their Presbyterian neighbours to the north, such as Lewis and Harris.

The Isle of Barra has bloom with a view

The Isle of Barra's beautiful scenery is complemented by more than a thousand species of wild flowers.

The Isle of Barra is a family affair

The MacNeil clan, descendants of the O'Neills of Ulster, dominate the history of the Isle of Barra, having owned the island for nearly 600 years. In 2003, Ian MacNeil, the 46th clan chief, gave the family estates—nearly all of the island—to the Scottish Executive. Eventually this land will pass to the community, free of charge.

The Isle of Barra's Ealing feeling

The 1949 Ealing comedy Whisky Galore! is based on the true story of the SS Politician, which sank off nearby Eriskay in 1941 with a cargo of whisky. This was turned into a novel by Sir Compton Mackenzie, who lived and is buried on the Isle of Barra.

The Isle of Barra has known a little doom and gloom

The Isle of Barra was the birthplace of the fictional character James Frazer, the gloomy undertaker in Dad's Army. Frazer was famous for saying "We're doomed!" at the first sign of trouble.

The Isle of Barra's runway has an unusual hazard

The Isle of Barra has the only airport in the world where scheduled flights land on a beach, at Traigh Mor. Flight times have to be flexible to catch low tide—twice a day the airstrip is submerged. The sands of Traigh Mor are full of prized cockles, so the Isle of Barra Airport runway is marked with posts to alert cockle pickers.

Barra went electric late in the day

Electricity only arrived on the Isle of Barra in 1966.

The Isle of Barra almost became a prison

In 1838, General Roderick MacNeil, the 41st chief of the clan, went bankrupt and sold The Isle of Barra to one Colonel John Gordon. At one point he offered to sell the island to the government as a convict settlement. The offer was declined. The MacNeils bought The Isle of Barra back in 1937.

Walk on water to the Isle of Barra's neighbour

Since 1990 the Isle of Barra has been connected by a causeway to Vatersay, a tiny island to its south.