The Church - An Eaglais

The church has played an early and enduring part in the historical and social life of the inhabitants of the Outer Hebrides. Some of the earliest Christian missionaries who came to Scotland began their work in the Outer Hebrides, spreading out from the religious foundation of St Columba on Iona, and establishing new centres at many localities along the coastline and on the offshore islands, often building on pre Christian ceremonial sites. These early holy men were of a sternly practical variety, who took with them skills in agriculture, building and education and were not always neutral observers in the political squabbles and local wars of the time. The defensive walls encircling some of the larger religious sites became associated with sanctuary for fugitives and for storing wealth against pillage, although the pursers did not always respect the significance.

The defeat of the Roman Catholic followers of Prince Charles Edward Stewart (Bonnie Prince Charlie) marked the end of religious and political struggles occasionally boiling over since the Protestant Reformation in Scotland and it marked the end of the Highlands and Islands as a bastion of Catholicism. Areas such as South Uist and Barra have remained largely Roman Catholic to this day, while on Lewis, Harris and North Uist a series of theological disputes have led to the dominance of a number of Presbyterian religious beliefs. In each case however, the religious sentiment throughout the Hebrides has created strong bonds of social and cultural expression with a long and distinctive lineage, for example in the melodic unaccompanied singing of the protestant congregations, or in the vestigial pre-reformation music of the Catholic churches.

Find out more about the History of Catholicism and the History of Protestantism in the islands.