Qualla: Eigg

Eigg: Introduction

Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Rosser1954 - Roger Griffith, Public domain. The entire population of Eigg once fit inside a cave. That was the problem. In the late 16th century, during a savage feud between the MacDonalds and the MacLeods, the islanders hid in a sea cave called Uamh Fhraing -- the Cave of Frances -- hoping the raiding party from Skye would search the island, find it empty, and leave. The MacLeods did search. They found nothing. But as their galleys prepared to depart, a scout spotted a single islander moving on the hillside, and the tracks in fresh snow led straight to the cave's mouth. The MacLeods lit a fire at the entrance. Every person inside -- perhaps 395 men, women, and children -- suffocated. The cave still exists. So does the island, though its story since then has been one of clearance, neglect, eccentric lairds, and ultimately a community buyout that changed Scottish land law.

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Image: Rosser1954 - Roger Griffith | Public domain

Eigg: Fire and Faith

Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit CC BY-SA 2.0. Eigg sits in the Small Isles archipelago of the Inner Hebrides, a volcanic ridge five miles long dominated by An Sgurr, a pitchstone cliff that rises 393 metres above sea level and is visible from the mainland on clear days. The island's human history stretches back to at least t...

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Image: CC BY-SA 2.0

Eigg: Between the Clans and the Crown

Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Tom Parnell from Scottish Borders, Scotland, CC BY-SA 2.0. Eigg belonged to Clan Ranald, a branch of the MacDonalds, for centuries. The feud with the MacLeods that produced the cave massacre was part of a cycle of retaliatory violence across the Hebrides. According to tradition, the MacLeods had earlier been wronged by MacDonalds on Eigg...

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Image: Tom Parnell from Scottish Borders, Scotland | CC BY-SA 2.0

Eigg: Cleared and Sold

Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Calum McRoberts, CC BY-SA 2.0. The Clearances came to Eigg as they came to so many Hebridean islands. In the 19th century, the population was forced off the land to make way for sheep. The island passed through a series of owners, some absentee, some eccentric. By the 1990s, Eigg had been bought and sold by a ...

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Image: Calum McRoberts | CC BY-SA 2.0

Eigg: Dinosaurs and Dynamos

Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Alexey Komarov, CC BY-SA 4.0. Community ownership transformed Eigg. The island built its own electricity grid powered by wind, solar, and hydroelectric generation, becoming one of the first places in the world to run entirely on renewable energy. Each household is limited to five kilowatts at any one time -- ...

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Image: Alexey Komarov | CC BY-SA 4.0