Editing Point, Lewis

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
[[Image:Point Western Isles NASA World Wind.png|thumb|Satellite image of Point]]

'''Point''' ({{langx|gd|An Rubha}}), also known as the '''Eye Peninsula''',{{efn|A partial translation of ''Rubha na h-Aoidhe'', meaning "promontory of the isthmus".<ref>{{cite book|title=Ainmean Tuineachaidh Leodhais: The Settlement Names of Lewis|date=2022|last=Cox|first=Richard A. V.|location=Brig o' Turk|publisher=Clann Tuirc|isbn=978-0-9562490-1-2|page=5|url=http://www.richardavcox.scot/RichardCoxFiles/2022AinmeanTuineachaidhLeodhaisTheSettlementNamesofLewis.pdf#page=40}}</ref>}} is a peninsula some 11&nbsp;km<ref>Extreme points are Gob na Creige GR499292 and Ceann an t-Siumpain GR573378 ie 11.3 km apart, not 11 miles as in the community website</ref> long in the [[Outer Hebrides]], Scotland. The majority of Point is connected to the rest of the [[Isle of Lewis]] by a narrow [[isthmus]], one mile in length and at one point barely 100 metres wide. The peninsula is just 6&nbsp;km east of the regional capital of [[Stornoway]], however the district of Point actually starts at the Parkend estate on Stornoway's outskirts. Point is home to around 2,600 people and is one of the few districts of the Western Isles where the population is increasing. 
There are about 17 villages and hamlets in Point: (listed west to east) [[Melbost]] (Mealabost) (Including Stornoway Airport), [[Branahuie]] (Bràigh na h-Aoidhe), [[Aignish]] (Aiginis), [[Knock, Isle of Lewis|Knock]] (An Cnoc), Swordale (Suardail), [[Garrabost]], [[Lower Bayble]] (Pabail Iarach), Eagleton (Baile na h-Iolaire), [[Upper Bayble]] (Pabail Uarach), [[Shulishader]] (Sulaisiader, usually referred to as Shader), Sheshader (Seisiader), [[Flesherin]] (Fleisirin), Cnoc Amhlaigh, [[Portnaguran]] (Port nan Giuran), [[Aird, Lewis|Aird]], [[Broker]] (Brocair), and [[Portvoller]] (Port Mholair).<ref>A Guide To Point: An Rubha, The Eye Peninsula, Isle of Lewis. Liz Chaplin (Ed). 2014. Published by Urras Eaglais na h-Aoidhe in conjunction with Point Community Council.</ref>

==Education==
Point is served by Sgoil an Rubha (Point School), a primary school which opened in 2011 in [[Bayble]], built on the site of Bayble primary and junior secondary school. There was a long debate about the new school, leading to a gap of over 10 years between the first plans and the building of the school. The school took a year to build, and was the first of a number of new schools built in the Western Isles. There were three primary schools in Point: Bayble, Knock and Aird. These fed into Bayble junior secondary school, which closed when the new school opened, reflecting the decline in the school-age population. There is now no junior secondary school in Point; Sgoil an Rubha feeds into the Nicolson Institute in Stornoway for secondary education.{{citation needed|reason=no source given|date=June 2015}}

==Heritage Sites==

At the eastern end of the isthmus (''Am Bràighe'' in Gaelic) are the ruins of the [[Aignish|Eye Church]], which are all that remain of a building dedicated to [[St Columba]]. This was among the largest pre-Reformation Churches in the Western Isles. Although the present buildings are probably medieval, the Church is reputedly on the site of the [[monastic cell|cell]] of [[St Catan]], a contemporary of St Columba. This is the burial ground of 19 of the Chiefs of the [[Clan MacLeod|MacLeod]]s of Lewis. There are two old carved commemorative slabs, one depicts a warrior, believed to be Roderick, 7th Chief; while the other is Margaret, daughter of Roderick MacLeod of Lewis, who died in 1503.

In recent years, the land reform struggle of the 19th century in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland is being recognised, and the [[Aignish]] Riots of 1888 are commemorated by a memorial adjacent to the Eye Church.
[[File:Tiumpan Head.jpg|thumb|[[Tiumpan Head]] at the east end of Point and [[Portvoller]] from the air ]]{{citation needed|reason=no source given|date=June 2015}}

On the north-west side of the peninsula and 30m offshore is Stac Mor Garrabost. Investigated by archaeologists in 1990s as part of the Coastal Erosion Assessment project and then again in the 2000s for The Severe Terrain Archaeological Campaign (STAC) little is known about the site except that there are the remains of structures on the [[Stack (geology)|sea stack]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Vol 36 (2009): STAC: The Severe Terrain Archaeological Campaign - investigation of stack sites of the Isle of Lewis 2003-2005 {{!}} Scottish Archaeological Internet Reports|url=http://journals.socantscot.org/index.php/sair/issue/view/59|access-date=2021-08-27|website=journals.socantscot.org}}</ref>

== Notable people from Point==

*[[Iain Crichton Smith]]: Poet and author from Bayble 
*[[Ishbel MacAskill]]: Scottish Gaelic singer from Broker 
*[[Stuart Braithwaite]]: Lead singer of the band [[Mogwai]], mother is from [[Flesherin]].
*[[Calum MacDonald (politician)|Calum MacDonald]]: Retired MP for the Western Isles
*[[Anne MacKenzie (journalist)|Anne MacKenzie]]: Journalist from Point
*[[Ronnie McKinnon]]: [[Rangers FC]] football player, Capped for Scotland 28 times, Lives in [[Flesherin]]. His connection with the island lies in [[Carloway]], on the other side of the island, where his mother came from.{{citation needed|reason=no source given|date=June 2015}}
*[[Donald Morrison (footballer)|Donald Morrison]]: Footballer for [[Dumbarton F.C.|Dumbarton]], and formerly for Point F.C. and [[Inverness Caledonian Thistle F.C.|Inverness Caledonian Thistle]].

==References==
{{Notelist}}
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Eye Peninsula}}
*[https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/18508 Photo of the Aignish memorial]
*[http://www.pointonline.co.uk Community website]
*[http://www.uichurch.co.uk Urras Eaglais na h-Aoidhe (The Ui Church Trust)]

{{coord|58|13|N|6|12|W|type:landmark_region:GB_dim:20000|display=title}}

{{Lewis and Harris}}

[[Category:Peninsulas of Scotland]]
[[Category:Isle of Lewis]]
[[Category:Landforms of the Outer Hebrides]]