Eilean Mhealasta


Eilean Mhealasta is an uninhabited island off the west coast of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. It takes its name from Mealista, a nearby township on Lewis.

History

Nearby Mealista had a shrine to St Catan, but it is not known if the island itself had a Culdee settlement.
The ruins of old buildings of a previous community can still be seen. In 1823 the island was incorporated into a sheep farm. Thereafter no permanent inhabitants were recorded. A folk myth says that anyone born on Eilean Mhealasta will grow up to be an idiot. Haswell-Smith suggests that the landlords started this rumour to encourage residents to leave. In the 1861 census, it was recorded that some sailors from Rosehearty were camping there.
In about 1785 a boat from Mealista carrying a cargo of timber took shelter from a gale at the southernmost point of the Pairc. Nothing more was heard of the crew and on Mealista they were given up as lost at sea. During the following summer, blankets were offered for sale at the annual market day at Stornoway. The blankets were recognised by an unusual identification mark and a confession of murder for the cargo of timber followed.
The island is still used as sheep grazing.

Geography and geology

Eilean Mhealasta lies ½ mile from the west coast of Lewis, south of Brenish and several miles north of Scarp. It is just over a kilometre long, and indented with a bay, Camas Leirageo in the west, which contains, Sgeir na Geòdha Ruaidh. The east coast has a clean sandy beach, while the west coast is rocky.
The island is a bedrock of gneiss, some of which contains a reddish quartz. There are natural arches on the east coast.