Dùn Èistean

The ruins of two large buildings and groups of interconnecting cellular structures can be seen amongst the grassy tussocks on the top of the island, as well as an artificial pond and a low turf wall enclosing the site.

The island would have provided all that was needed for occupation, having its own fresh water supply in the form of the artificial pond, and numerous buildings serving an array of purposes, from storage to sleeping quarters.

There are a variety of physically similar sites to Dùn Èistean around the coast of Lewis and the southern Western Isles, many of which have been occupied or used at the same time.

The local traditions and stories relating to Dùn Èistean, and the Clans of Morrison, Macleod and Macaulay in particular, emerge from this volatile and often violent period in Lewis’ history.

Almost all structures and finds from this Clan Morrison island date to within the period between the 16th and the 18th centuries, which is significant given that the forfeiture of the Lordship of the Isles occurred in the late 15th century and that the intermittent clan wars and strife which followed the power vacuum created by the disappearance of the central power of the region (a period known in Gaelic as "Linn nan Creach" or the 'Era of Strife') and that the highlands and islands came under tighter government control with the destruction of the Clan system following the failed Jacobite Rebellions of the 18th century.