The Isle of Taransay

Taransay (Tarasaigh in Gaelic), is an island in the Scottish Outer Hebrides. It is famous for being the host of the British television series Castaway 2000. Image File history File links Taransay. ... Image File history File links Taransay. ... Note: This page contains phonetic information presented in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) using Unicode. ... Motto: Nemo me impune lacessit (English: No one provokes me with impunity) Scotlands location within Europe Scotlands location within the United Kingdom Languages English, Gaelic, Scots Capital Edinburgh Largest city Glasgow First Minister Jack McConnell Area - Total - % water Ranked 2nd UK 78,782 km² 1. ... Western Isles redirects here. ... Castaway 2000 was a show commissioned by the BBC in 2000 that took 36 men, women and children from the British public and placed them on Taransay, a remote Scotish island in the Outer Hebrides for a year. ...

Geography

Taransay lies on the west coast of Scotland at latitude 57.8995°N and longitude 7.0167°W. It is part of the Harris parish and governed by the Western Isles council. Taransay is in the traditional county of Inverness-shire and lies two miles (3 km) from the Isle of Harris, separated by a stretch of sea called the Sound of Taransay. Crossings between the two islands are dependant on calm weather and there no harbours for large boats on either island. Taransay is four miles (6 km) long, and, at its widest point, 3 miles (5 km) across, covering over 3500 acres (14 km²). An Cliseam from the Abhainn Mharaig, just off the main road to Lewis. ... The Western Isles are an archipelago in Scotland. ... The traditional counties of Scotland are historic and cutural divisions of Scotland. ... Inverness-shire (Siorrachd Inbhir Nis in Gaelic) is one of the traditional counties of Scotland. ...

Taransay is made up of two 750 ft (230 m) heather-covered hills connected by a white sandy isthmus in the south of the island. It overlooks the bays of Luskyntyre and Seilibost bay to the east, with the Atlantic Ocean to the west. The bays are bordered with sandy beaches and machair dunes. The Isthmus of Panama connects North and South America. ... Machair The Gaelic word Machair or machar refers to a fertile low-lying coastal plain. ...

The area is mostly gneiss rock, with granite veins. The highest point of the island is Ben Raah (Beinn Ra) at 876 feet (267m). Gneiss Gneiss is a common and widely distributed type of rock formed by high-grade regional metamorphic processes from preexisting formations that were originally either igneous or sedimentary rocks. ...

Wildlife

The island hosts a variety of birds, but other wildlife is limited to Red deer and mice. In 2003/4, the population of American mink on the island were the subject of an eradication programme in order to protect the rare groundnesting birds [1]. Taransay is however, noted for its flora, with an abundance of wild flowers growing on the island's machair grasslands. Binomial name Cervus elaphus Linnaeus, 1758 Subspecies Numerous - see text. ... Binomial name Mustela vison (Schreber, 1777) The American Mink, Mustela vison, is a North American member of the Mustelidae family found in Alaska, Canada and most of the United States. ...

History

The beach at Paible, Taransay.

The Isle of Taransay has been inhabited since 300 AD. Originally home to Celtic pagans, Christianity was established on Taransay around 750 AD. In 900 AD, Taransay was taken over by Vikings when they invaded Scotland. 1544 saw the Massacre of Taransay by the Morrisons of Lewis. Inhabitants from the island of Berneray retaliated against this, forcing the Morrisons to retreat to a rock where they were executed. The rock was later called Sgeir Bhuailte, meaning smitten-rock. Image File history File links Taransay_Beach. ... Image File history File links Taransay_Beach. ... Events Romano-Celtic temple-mausoleum complex is constructed in Lullingstone, and also in Anderida (approximate date). ... Paganism (from Latin paganus, meaning a country dweller or civilian) is a blanket term which has come to connote a broad set of spiritual or religious beliefs and practices of natural or polytheistic religions, as opposed to the Abrahamic monotheistic religions. ... Christianity is a monotheistic religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus as recounted in the New Testament. ... Events Last Umayyad caliph Marwan II (744-750) overthrown by first Abbasid caliph, Abu al-Abbas al-Saffah Bold textItalic textLink title GARY CANT SWIM GARY CANT SWIM GARY CANT SWIM GARY CANT SWIM GARY CANT SWIM GARY CANT SWIM GARY CANT SWIM... Events Persian scientist, Rhazes, distinguished smallpox from measles in the course of his writings. ... The name Viking is a loan from the native Scandinavian term for the Norse seafaring warriors who raided the coasts of Scandinavia, Europe and the British Isles from the late 8th century to the 11th century, the period of European history referred to as the Viking Age. ... Events April 11 - Battle of Ceresole - French forces under the Comte dEnghien defeat Imperial forces under the Marques Del Vasto near Turin. ... Looking towards the Uplands in the centre of the Island of Lewis Lewis (Leòdhas in Scottish Gaelic), is the northern part of the main island of the Outer Hebrides in Scotland, the southern part of which is called Harris, however Lewis and Harris are treated by Scots as separate... Berneray (Scottish Gaelic: Bheàrnaraidh) is an island in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland, north of North Uist. ...

Taransay was once made up of three villages; Raa, Uidh and Paible (Paibeil). Rent increases in 1835 caused a large decrease in the population of Taransay, made worse in 1883 by new orders that cotter households were no longer allowed to keep livestock or grows oats or barley. By 1961, the island was left with only one family; The MacRae's, living in the village of Paible. They departed in 1974 following the death of Ewen Macrae. | Come and take it, slogan of the Texas Revolution 1835 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... 1883 (MDCCCLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... A cotter, or cottar, is a peasant farmer formerly in the Scottish highlands. ... 1961 (MCMLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1961 calendar). ... 1974 (MCMLXXIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (the link is to a full 1974 calendar). ...

Taransay remained uninhabited until 2000 when the island was revived in order to host the television programme Castaway 2000. During the uninhabited years, the island had been used as a sheep-farm, run from the Harris mainland. This article is about the year 2000. ...

From 2001, when the Castaway show ended, Taransay has been a tourist resort, with the buildings being let as holiday accommodation, and boat trips to the island. 2001: A Space Odyssey. ...

Evidence that Vikings settled on the island can be derived from its name, as the word is an old Norse translation of "the Isle of Taran". The island was most probably named after the Irish Saint Ternan (also known as Taran or Torannan, see also Taranis), although another theory, reported by Saint Adomnan of Iona, suggests that Taran may have been the son of a Noble Pictish family. There is a third theory that the island is named after the god Taras or Thyras of the Thracians. Most historians agree that the Picts came from Illyria and Thrace where this cultus had originated. The first theory is generally seen as the more plausible, backed up by the fact that a chapel on the island is named after the Saint. This is the approximate extent of Old Norse and related languages in the early 10th century. ... In Celtic mythology Taranis was a god of thunder worshipped in Gaul and Britain and mentioned, along with Esus and Toutatis, by the Roman poet Lucan in his epic poem Pharsalia. ...

The village of Paible had two ancient chapels; the chapel of Saint Taran and the chapel of Saint Keith. The former was used for the burial of women, and the latter for men. A traditional myth on the island suggests that if this was reversed, the dead would rise and the bodies would be disinterred. The remains of Saint Keith's chapel can still be identified on the ground, but the site of Saint Taran's was destroyed by coastal erosion some time in the late 1970s.

Castaway

Taransay became well known following the BBC show Castaway. The show, organised by Lion Television, featured a group of 36 people marooned on the island for a year starting January 1, 2000. Castaway was broadcast internationally, including to audiences in Germany, America, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. The show reached nine million viewers at its peak. The cast was made up of volunteers hand-picked from 4000 applicants. They lived in temporary accommodation built especially for the show, known as 'pods', which were based in the former village of Paible. Existing buildings on the island included a Farmhouse, also called the Mackay house and a School Chalet, which were renovated for the show. As of 2004, these are available as self-catering holiday cottages for tourist use. According to the BBC website, the aim of the project was to "create a new society for the new millennium". This article is an overview article about the Crown chartered British Broadcasting Corporation formed in 1927. ... January 1 is the first day of the calendar year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. ... This article is about the year 2000. ... 2004 is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Unlike the original inhabitants of the island, the "castaways" had access to electricity and a water supply, as well as limited modern conveniences. Of the 36 who joined the show, 29 remained on the island for the whole year, including Ben Fogle who went on to be a presenter for a number of BBC shows, including Countryfile. The show was reported to be a social experiment, focusing on how this group would form a community. Ben Fogle (born 1973) is a British television presenter and travel writer. ... Countryfile is a Sunday morning television programme by the BBC that reports about various countryside and environmental issues. ... This article or section needs a complete rewrite for the reasons listed on the talk page. ...

External links

• The Isle of Taransay: A Harris island in its historical setting. Lawson, Bill (1997). Bill Lawson Publications. ISBN 1872598277.
• Information for visitors to the island
• Photos of Taransay