Barra’s main village, Castlebay, once served as the drawing reference for a famous comic-book hero. No wonder – this dreamy little place has real charm, and plenty of other attractions besides.
Where Castlebay gets its name becomes obvious to every visitor the moment they arrive: right in the middle of the large bay along which the village’s houses are strung out, Kisimul Castle rises proudly out of the sea. Today it dominates the view, and it once governed the fortunes of Clan MacNeil, based here on the Isle of Barra.
But reducing Castlebay to just its castle would be a mistake. After all, the village has already had some famous visitors. The famous reporter Tintin, for instance, was already here – well, almost. In “The Black Island”, the comic-book hero from “The Adventures of Tintin” actually visits a fictional Scottish village called Kiltoch.
But the comic’s artist, Hergé, never actually set foot in Scotland himself. He always worked from photographs supplied by an agent. For the silhouette and street of Kiltoch, Hergé drew his inspiration from a photo of what is today Pier Road in Castlebay.
Hergé wasn’t the only one to see Castlebay as a fitting backdrop for a good story. Although the novel “Whisky Galore” describes events on the island of Eriskay, many of the village scenes in its film adaptation were shot along Pier Road in Castlebay instead.
Pier Road remains the village’s main street to this day. It sweeps along a headland that juts out into the bay. At its tip sits the landing point for the Caledonian MacBrayne car ferry, which runs between Castlebay and Oban – a crossing that takes over six hours.
In earlier times, though, the bay was mainly home to fishing boats, since Castlebay was a major hub for herring fishermen at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century. But the seas were eventually overfished and the boom faded. And so Castlebay suffered the same fate as many settlements in the Outer Hebrides: residents drifted away to larger centres on the mainland.
Today, though, that unfortunate trend has been halted. When Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, the “Council of the Western Isles”, took the reins here too and built up infrastructure, Barra and Castlebay became attractive again. Tourism, of course, plays a major role in that.
Tips: sights to see in Castlebay
Castlebay is small, but there are a number of interesting attractions to be found here.
Kisimul Castle: Of course, Barra’s landmark, the MacNeils’ island fortress. You’ll find a detailed article about it here.
The church “Our Lady, Star of the Sea”: The Catholic church watches over the village. Around 1880, as the parish boomed thanks to the herring fishery, the old church soon became too small. When the businessman Neil MacNeil died in 1886 and left £800 for a new church, it set things in motion. Further donations funded the construction of a new place of worship, and “Our Lady, Star of the Sea” was consecrated with a grand Christmas Eve mass in 1888.
This “Lady”, of course, refers to the Virgin Mary, Mother of God, who is also honoured, for example, by a statue of Mary on South Uist, and who was long seen as the star in the sky for sailors.
The church in Castlebay was expanded over time and eventually gained a tower with a clock and bells. Inside you’ll find elaborate depictions of the Passion, stained-glass windows and beautiful altars.
Dualchas: Rotating exhibitions at Dualchas tell the story of life on Barra and the southern islands of Vatersay, Sandray, Pabbay, Mingulay and Berneray. Photos and artefacts from bygone eras bring the past back to life before visitors’ eyes. This plain building is open Monday to Saturday, 10:30am to 4:30pm. Admission is £3 for adults and £1 for children.
Dualchas is Gaelic for “heritage” – so this is the heritage centre.
Café Kisimul: Right across from the jetty for the ferry to Kisimul Castle sits Café Kisimul, with views of the castle. It serves food made with locally caught fish and seafood.
Other places of interest: At the start of Pier Road you’ll find the Tourist Information Centre, along with the only petrol station on Barra that I’m aware of. There’s also a supermarket and a post office here, naturally. Castlebay also has a medical practice and a hospital. The latter is very well equipped, as I once had the chance to see for myself.
You can stay overnight in the village at various bed and breakfasts, or at the “Castlebay” and “Craigard” hotels.
Good to know: population and language
An exact population figure for Castlebay is hard to pin down. In 2011, the statistics for the area from Vatersay to Castlebay recorded 557 people, so the figure will hover around 500. The dominant clan here is MacNeil, which long proudly traced its origins back to the Irish king Niall of the Nine Hostages. Recently, however, a DNA test shook up that view: it showed that the MacNeils of Barra actually descend from Vikings.
On Barra, around 68 percent of people still speak Gaelic (among other languages). In Gaelic, the village is called “Bàgh a’ Chaisteil”, which means the same thing.
Right behind Castlebay, Heabhal rises to 383 metres, making it the highest mountain on Barra.
Getting there:
With sat nav: “HS9 5XD” will take you to Castlebay.
Without sat nav: You can reach the island by ferry from Oban, arriving directly in Castlebay. On the island itself, you can drive the large ring road in either direction – you’ll eventually end up in Castlebay either way.
