Bishop's Isles

The Bishop's Isles, also called the Barra Isles, are a small archipelago in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland, south of the island of Barra, made up of nine named islands and numerous smaller rocky outcrops. Vatersay, the only currently inhabited island, is linked to Barra by the Vatersay Causeway, while Berneray, Pabbay, Sandray, and Mingulay were once inhabited and are now empty, and the smallest named islands are Flodday, Lingay, Muldoanich, and Uineasan. West of Vatersay stands Biruaslum, a notable coastal rock formation holding archaeological remains. Clan MacNeil held the isles from 1427 under grant from the Lords of the Isles, until King James VI transferred them to the Bishop of the Isles over piracy concerns, giving the group its name, and the islands also appear in Viking sagas.