Eriskay Historical Society secures funds for Ionad Eilean na h-Òige project

From Comann Eachdraidh Eirisgeidh (Eriskay Historical Society) in the Western Isles:

We are proud to announce that Ionad Eilean nan h-Òige has been awarded £340,895 in funding from the second round of SSEN Transmission's Regional Community Benefit Fund.

A share of £2.37 million has been awarded to 14 projects out of 189 applications from community organisations across the north of Scotland. 

This funding will support Phase 3 of our Ionad Eilean na h-Òige project, the final phase of our redevelopment of the old Eriskay School.

Phase 3 will deliver the heart of the overall project, and compliment the wellbeing accommodation suited currently under construction. 

Phase 3 includes:

• A new museum within the old Eriskay School building
• A welcoming tearoom/café
• Community rooms
• A temporary exhibition space for themed exhibitions, local & visiting artists etc
• Community library
• An archive room
• Office hire space
• Gym/Greenhouse

This is a fantastic result and a real testament to the strength of the community, the project and the collective effort behind the application. It reflects the commitment, collaboration and belief shown by so many in our community.

This support enables us to leave a positive lasting legacy in partnership with SSEN Transmission, preserving Eriskay’s heritage while creating sustainable facilities for future generations.

If you would like to donate towards our project, please click on the link on our website https://www.eriskayheritage.scot/support-us

Thank you all for your continued support with our community led project.  

(Source: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064550927205)

Comment: I met some of the folk from this Eriskay group last year, they're a friendly bunch, and it will be great to see the centre when he work is complete. I might just have to go back for another visit!

Mealaibh ur naidheachd a chàirdean!

Chris 

Order Researching Ancestral Crisis in Ireland in the UK at https://bit.ly/4jJWSEh. Also available -Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors, Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records, Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. To purchase in the USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page.

Scottish GENES is back!

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!

Chris

Order Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors in the UK at https://bit.ly/BelfastAncestors. Also available - Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records, Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. For purchase in tthe USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, on Threads at @scottishgenesblog and via Mastodon at https://mastodon.scot/@ScottishGENES.

Comainn Eachdraidh - historical societies in the Western Isles

At the BIFHSGO Conference earlier today I had great fun, alongside Highland archivisit Lorna Steele-McGinn, in answering questions to do with research in Scotland's Highlands and Islands. 

One type of resource that a lot of folk don't know about is the historical societies that exist in the Western Isles, rather than family history societies, which are known in Gaelic as the comainn eachdraidh (comann eachdraidh singular, sometimes also written as comunn eachdraidh). Many islands have a comann eachdraidh, whilst some have more than one. 

The following is a list as drawn from the Hebridean Connections platform at https://www.hebrideanconnections.com:

Comunn Eachdraidh Cheann a' Loch (CECL)
Kinloch Historical Society

Comann Coimhearsnachd Bheàrnaraigh (CCB)
Berneray Community Association

Comunn Eachdraidh na Pàirc (CEP)
Pairc Historical Society

Comunn Eachdraidh Bheàrnaraigh (CEBH)
Berneray Historical Society

Comann Eachdraidh Bharabhais agus Bhrù (CEBB)
Barvas and Brue Historical Society

Comann Glèidhteachais Teampall na Trianaid (CGTNT)
Teampall na Trianaid Conservation Association

Comunn Eachdraidh Ùig (CEU)
Uig Historical Society

Comann Eachdraidh Uibhist a Tuath (CEUT)
North Uist Historical Society

Comunn Eachdraidh Nis (CEN)
Ness Historical Society

Comann Eachdraidh Chàrlabhaigh (CEC)
Carloway Historical Society

Comann Eachdraidh an Taobh Siar (CEATS)
West Side Historical Society

Comann Eachdraidh Sgìre Bheàrnaraigh (CEBL)
Bernera Historical Society

Comann Eachdraidh Cheann a Tuath nan Loch (CECTL)
North Lochs Historical Society

Càirdean Carragh Cuimhne Bheinn nam Faoghla (CCCBF)
Friends of Benbecula War Memorial

Comann Eachdraidh Tholastaidh bho Thuath (CET)
North Tolsta Historical Society

Urras Leabhraichean nan Eilean (IBT)
The Islands Book Trust

Links for these are available via the Hebrides Connections page, as above. 

Other comainn eachdraidh include:

Comann Eachdraidh Uibhist a Deas (South Uist)
https://outerhebridesheritage.org.uk/community-heritage/south-uist-historical-society/

Comann Eachdraidh Barraigh agus Bhatarsaigh (Barra and Vatersay)                                             https://www.barraheritagecentre.com

Comann Eachdraidh Èirisgeigh (Eriskay)
https://www.eriskayheritage.scot

If you have ancestors from the Western Isles, do try these societies for assistance, and don't forget also the Seallam! group on Harris also, that can help - details via their Hebrides People website at https://hebridespeople.com.

Chris

Order Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors in the UK at https://bit.ly/BelfastAncestors. Also available - Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records, Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. For purchase in tthe USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, on Threads at @scottishgenesblog and via Mastodon at https://mastodon.scot/@ScottishGENES.

Glasgow and West of Scotland Family History Society

I was asked recently why I wasn't a member of the Glasgow and West of Scotland Family History Society, a society to which I have given talks on several occasions in the past. As questions go, that one was definitely right up there with 'what is the meaning of life?', and I didn't have an answer.

So I've just joined! 

Annual membership is £15 if based in the UK, £18 is in the rest of the world. There are some useful databases available to members online, but perhaps the greatest online offering is free access to members of the society's journal in PDF format, from the earliest editions in 1978 to the current editions of 2022. The society also has a research centre in Partick, although this has been closed due to the pandemic over the last couple of years. 

Most of my Glasgow connections are limited to the late 19th century onwards, with many ancestral lines from Ireland establishing themselves primarily in and around Bridgeton, the most recent being my granny, born there in 1904 to two migrants from Londonderry and Fermanagh. However, perhaps my most irritating ancestral brick wall is that of my two times great grandfather, John Brownlie MacFarlance, whose parents were stated to be a blacksmith called John MacFarlane and his wife Ann Brownlee, and for whom I can find zip, zilch, nothing. Obviously if that one is ever cracked, happy days, but there is more value to being a member of the society than that, with Glasgow being Scotland's largest populated city. We all have connections with Glasgow somewhere in Scotland!

To find out more about the society visit www.gwsfhs.org.uk.

(For details of other Scottish societies visit www.safhs.org.uk, and for the comainn eachdraidh/historical societies of the Western Isles, visit www.hebrideanconnections.com)

Chris

My new book Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records is now available to buy at https://bit.ly/IrishLandRecords. Also available - Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.