Gairsay (Old Norse: Gáreksey) is a small island in Orkney, Scotland, located in the parish of Rendall, 1.5 miles (2.4 km) off the coast, astride one of the approaches to the bays of Firth and Kirkwall.

[8] A mansion called Langskaill was built on the site of Sweyn's estate in the seventeenth century by a wealthy merchant, Sir William Craigie,[9] who lived there with his wife Margaret Honyman, daughter of the Bishop of Orkney.

Close by the south shore stand the remains of an old house which seems formerly to have possessed some degree of elegance and strength, and was the residence of Sir William Craigie, and others of that name and family.

"[11] Samuel Lewis's 1846 Topographical dictionary of Scotland made very similar observations: "GAIRSAY, an island, in the parish of Evie and Rendall, county of Orkney; containing 71 inhabitants.

It consists chiefly of a conical hill of considerable altitude; the whole of the west side is pretty steep, but towards the east it is more level and fertile, and in this quarter, and in the south, the lands are tolerably well cultivated.