The Brough of Birsay is a small (210,000 m²) tidal island off the north west coast of The Mainland of Orkney, in the parish of Birsay. The island is reachable at low tide via a causeway. The Old Norse name for the island was "Byrgisey" which means fort island, and gives the parish its name. Brough, indeed, means fort (it can also mean other types of geographical feature) and has cognates in virtually every Indo-European and Semitic language, as well as others. For a fuller explanation, see under borough. A tidal island is a piece of land that is connected to the mainland by a causeway exposed at low tide and submerged at high tide. ... The Mainland, Orkney shown within The Orkney Islands The Mainland is the main island of Orkney, Scotland. ... The Orkney Islands form one of 32 unitary council regions in Scotland, and are a Lieutenancy Area. ... Birsay is a parish in the North West corner of The Mainland of Orkney. ... This is the approximate extent of Old Norse and related languages in the early 10th century. ... Fortifications (Latin fortis, strong, and facere, to make) are military constructions designed for defensive warfare. ... Proto-Indo-European Indo-European studies Indo-European is originally a linguistic term, referring to the Indo-European language family. ... Semitic is an adjective referring to the peoples who have traditionally spoken Semitic languages or to things pertaining to them. ... A borough IPA: (  listen) is a political division originally used in England. ...

The earliest settlement on the island is thought to have been in the 5th century AD, perhaps by Christian missionaries. By the 7th century it was a Pictish fortress, and in the 9th century the Picts were displaced by Norsemen. In its simplist form, a Christian is a follower of and a believer in Jesus of Nazareth. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Norsemen (the Norse) is the indigenous or ancient name for the people of Scandinavia, including (but not limited to) the Vikings. ...

Some of the remains of these settlements are still visible. The most significant being the remains of a fine, though small, Romanesque church. This dates back to about 1100 and was dedicated to Saint Peter. It has an interesting shape; probably with a square tower at one end, and a semi-circular apse at the other. There is some evidence of an earlier, possibly Pictish church on the same site. The church was a place of pilgrimage until the middle ages. The most interesting Pictish remain found is a stone slab showing three figures and some additional Pictish symbols. It is not known what the subject of this carving is, but it probably shows aristocratic Picts as they wished to be perceived. Saint Peter, portrayed by Peter Paul Rubens in a papal chasuble and pallium holding keys, was one of the twelve disciples of Jesus and the first Pope of the Catholic Church. ... The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ...

According to the Orkneyinga saga the main residence of Jarl Thorfinn the Mighty (1014-1065) was located in Birsay, possibly on the Brough. At this time the first Bishop of Orkney was appointed and his cathedral was probably on the site of the present day Saint Magnus Kirk, nearby on the Mainland. The Orkneyinga saga (also called the History of the Earls of Orkney) is an unique historical narrative of the history of the Orkney Islands from their capture by the Norwegian king in the 9th century onwards until about 1200 AD. The saga was written around 1200 AD by an unknown... A bishop is an ordained member of the Christian clergy who, in certain Christian churches, holds a position of authority. ... A cathedral is a Christian church building, specifically of a denomination with an episcopal hierarchy (such as the Roman Catholic Church or the Lutheran or Anglican churches), which serves as the central church of a bishopric. ... Saint Magnus was the first earl of Orkney to bear that name, and ruled from 1108 to 1117. ...

There is an unmanned lighthouse on the Brough which was built in 1925. The Peggys Point lighthouse in Nova Scotia, Canada An aid for navigation and pilotage at sea, a lighthouse is a tower building or framework sending out light from a system of lamps and lenses or, in older times, from a fire. ... 1925 was a common year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ...