Seaforth Island

Seaforth Island (Scottish Gaelic: Eilean Shìphoirt/Shìophoirt or Mulag) is an uninhabited island in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. Unlike many other islands of the Outer Hebrides which are mainly surrounded by open sea, Seaforth Island lies in a narrow fjord-like sea loch named Loch Seaforth, 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) from the open waters of The Minch. There are two different Gaelic names for the island. Mulag is from the Old Norse name Múli, which describes its geographical location, and the other is after the family of Francis Mackenzie, 1st Baron Seaforth, who inherited the island in 1783.[4]

There is also a Seaforth Island in the Whitsunday Islands of Queensland, Australia
Seaforth Island
Scottish Gaelic nameEilean Shìophoirt or Mulag
Old Norse nameMúli
Meaning of nameNorse for 'craggy ridge between fjords'; Gaelic for "island of Seaforth"

Loch Seaforth and Eilean Shìophoirt from the north with Clisham beyond
Location
Seaforth Island
Seaforth Island shown within the Outer Hebrides
OS grid referenceNB207111
Coordinates58.00°N 06.7292°W / 58.00; -06.7292
Physical geography
Island groupOuter Hebrides
Area273 hectares (1.05 sq mi)
Area rank92 [1]
Highest elevation217 metres (712 ft)
Administration
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
CountryScotland
Council areaOuter Hebrides
Demographics
Population0
References[2][3][4]
Seaforth Island
Highest point
Elevation217 m (712 ft)
Prominence217 m (712 ft)
ListingMarilyn
Geography
LocationLoch Seaforth between Harris and Lewis, Scotland
OS gridNB207111
Topo mapOS Landrangers 13, 14

The island has poor soil which only supports rough grazing.

History

There are no census records indicating inhabitation in the recent past, although the loch area was the subject of border disputes in the 19th century. In 1851 these were resolved by the unusual decision to allocate the whole of Seaforth Island to both counties, Ross-shire and Inverness-shire, which at the time controlled Lewis and Harris respectively.[4] This situation continued until the 1975 county reorganisation.

Footnotes
  1. Area and population ranks: there are c. 300 islands over 20 ha in extent and 93 permanently inhabited islands were listed in the 2011 census.
  2. National Records of Scotland (15 August 2013). "Appendix 2: Population and households on Scotland's Inhabited Islands" (PDF). Statistical Bulletin: 2011 Census: First Results on Population and Household Estimates for Scotland Release 1C (Part Two) (PDF) (Report). SG/2013/126. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
  3. Ordnance Survey. OS Maps Online (Map). 1:25,000. Leisure.
  4. Haswell-Smith, Hamish (2004). The Scottish Islands. Edinburgh: Canongate. pp. 283–84. ISBN 978-1-84195-454-7.

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