I'm back in genealogy land after a few months time off for good behaviour doing a Cert HE course at the University of Glasgow, entitled Gaelic with Immersion. The course was designed to help people with a degree of Scottish Gaelic push towards fluency, and it has certainly helped me to develop my abilities with the language. At the conclusion of the course I spent three weeks on the Hebridean island of South Uist (Uibhist a Deas), where I was able to meet many people in various walks of life who still use Gaelic as their first language in Scotland, and where I had a chance to also travel to other Hebridean islands, including Barra (Barraigh), Vatersay (Bhatarsaigh), Benbecula (Beinn na Foghla), Grimsay (Griomasaigh), North Uist (Uibhist a Tuath), and Berneray (Beàrnaraigh).
During my time in the Western Isles, I was able to cut peat by Beinn Mhòr, plant potatoes on the machair at Daliburgh, visit cèilidhs and concerts, and talk to Gaelic speakers young and old across the islands, including former STV colleague Alex O' Henley, one of the BBC's and UEFA's football commentators, at his croft at Garrynamonie.
As a genealogist it was great to get a chance to visit many historical sites in South Uist and the other islands, including the township of Milton, where Flora MacDonald was born (she who helped Bonnie Prince Charlie escape “over the seas to Skye”), Castle Ormacleit (a MacDonald of Clanranald stronghold), and Kildonan Museum. At Kildonan I had a chance to see the 'tasglann' or archive of Comunn Eachdraidh Uibhist a Deas, otherwise known as South Uist Historical Society, where people can come to research their family history, or the history of the family croft or the local island. There are several 'comainn eachdraidh' in the islands, and I also had a chance to meet and talk to folk from Comunn Eachdraidh Èirisgeigh (Eriskay Historical Society), and to see where Comunn Eachdraidh Barraigh is Bhatarsaigh (Barra and Vatersay Historial Society) was based, albeit this was closed on the day I visited the island of Barra. For links to the various comainn eachdraidh, and to discover what they can offer for Hebridean research, read my blog post at https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2023/10/comainn-eachdraidh-historical-societies.html.
My final two assignments have been submitted, and I now await the formal certificate to be awarded (assuming I haven't screwed these up!), but it is time to get back to the day job. Scottish GENES is back, and I look forward to sharing genealogy news with you over the next few days, weeks, months and years, just as I have done since 2007.
Finally, if you have been following my Gaelic journey, and wish to have a go yourself, check out my blog post at https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2025/01/resources-to-help-you-learn-scottish.html - agus gun tèid leibh leis an turas agaibh!
In the meantime, some more pics from my recent Hebridean escapades!
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