Gaelic name Maol Dòmhnaich OS grid reference NL688940 Sovereign state United Kingdom Island group Outer Hebrides Lieutenancy area Comhairle nan Eilean Siar | Meaning of name Duncan's rounded hill Area rank 164= Area 78 ha Council area Comhairle nan Eilean Siar | |
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Highest elevation Cruachan na h-àin 153 m | ||
Muldoanich is an uninhabited island in the Barra Isles archipelago at the southern extremity of the larger island chain of the Outer Hebrides in Scotland.
Contents
Map of Muldoanich, United Kingdom
The island is 78 hectares (193 acres - about a third of a sq. mile) in area and rises to a maximum height of 153 metres (502 ft) at the peak of Cruachan na h-àin ("midday hill").
Muldoanich stands about 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) south east of Castlebay, the main port on the island of Barra, and it is a prominent landmark for the approaching ferry and other craft. It has no level ground. There are no census records, but the southern headland of Vanish (meaning "headland of the house" or "sacred place" in Gaelic) may indicate habitation at some time in the past.
Etymology
The name "Muldoanich" is probably the anglicised version of the Scottish Gaelic: Maol Dòmhnaich meaning "Duncan's rounded hill". It is shown with that name on Ordnance Survey maps. Mul Domhnach, meaning "Sunday island", is another possible derivation. Writing in the 16th century, Dean Munro referred to the island as "Scarp" and it appears as "Scarpa" on Blaeu's atlas of 1654.
Martin Martin refers to "Muldonish" in his 1695 voyage around the Western Isles, stating "about a mile in circumference; it is high in the middle, covered over with heath and grass, and is the only forest here for maintaining the deer, being commonly about seventy or eighty in number."