Fáilte
Outer Hebrides
Iomramh 2011
We motored out of the harbour about mid-day and headed for Lough Maddy, a village on Uist.
We were lucky to be able to tie up at the pier.
The town was very quiet. Two hotels, with only a few customers in each. Three of us held out at the bar as long as we could but were still back on the boat before midnight and they drank my private stock of Heather Ale as well as a bottle of whiskey!.
30th June.
Sailed (literally!) out from Lough Maddy Pier heading for Lough Boisdale.
I have just noticed that their was a ‘Papar’ site in Stornaway which we should have visited. But Papar have faded into the background a bit.
1st July 2011.
In Loch Boisedale – Baghasdail there are no berths so we are moored in the bay and have to go in and out in the dingy – very inconvenient. The hotel is nice and has internet. There is a big canoeing party from Ireland here, mostly from the North but also Josie Gibbons, from Camus. They joined for a seisiún and a bit of fun.
2nd July 2011.
In the morning Pádraig rang a contact named Mary Schmoller, who came at once to meet us. She didn’t know anything about the local Pabbay Island but immediately suggested a ‘hooley’ in her house tonight, with some local singers.
In the afternoon we found the Pabbaig island ourselves and then walked to Dalabrog a village even quieter than Boisedale – we couldn’t even get a sandwich in the hotel.
Mary Schmoller lives in Kildonnan about ten miles away so we got a taxi.
Her neighbours and Brian & Eithne Vallely were there ready for a good night, but first, some of us went to clean up ‘Donnan’s Well’ nearby and then I went on by myself to see the site of St Donnan’s Church, on the banks of the ‘lough’ – an impressive site but a bit overgrown. Quite a similarity between this and the first cave at Seljaland. I didn’t have a camera, so borrowed one from Mary, who very kindly gave me the photos on CD.