Shiant Isles

The Shiant Isles (Gaelic: Na h-Eileanan Seunta or Na h-Eileanan Mòra) are a privately owned island group in the Minch, east of Harris in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. They are five miles south east of Lewis.

The name "Shiant" (pronounced "Shant") is from the Scottish Gaelic: Na h-Eileanan Seunta pronounced [nə ˈhelanən ˈʃiant̪ə], which means the "charmed", "holy" or "enchanted isles". The group is also known as Na h-Eileanan Mòra, "the big isles" [nə ˈhelanən ˈmoːɾə]. The main islands are Garbh Eilean (rough island) and Eilean an Taighe (house island), which are joined by a narrow isthmus, and Eilean Mhuire (island of the Virgin Mary) to the east. Eilean an Taighe was called Eilean na Cille (island of the church) prior to the 19th century.

A 17th-century chart by John Adair calls Garbh Eilean Nunaltins Isle, Eilean Mhuire St Marys Isle and Eilean an Taighe St Columbs Isle This last suggests that the chapel on E. an Taighe might have been dedicated to St Columba.(John N. Moore, 'John Adair's Contribution to the Charting of the Scottish Coasts: A Re-Assessment', Imago Mundi, Vol. 52 (2000), pp. 43–65)

The Shiant Isles lie east of the Sound of Shiant. Garbh Eilean and Eilean an Taighe together extend to 143 hectares (350 acres) and the much more fertile Eilean Mhuire to 75 hectares (190 acres). In addition to these main islands the line of Galtachan rocks that lie to the west include Galta Beag, Bodach, Stacan Laidir, Galta Mòr, Sgeir Mhic a' Ghobha and Damhag.

In geological terms, these islands essentially represent an extension of the Trotternish peninsula of Skye. The rocks are volcanic, and at 60Ma, very young by Hebridean standards. Dolerite columns on the north side of Garbh Eilean are over 120 metres (390 ft) tall and about 2 metres (6.6 ft) in diameter. Similar to those at Staffa and the Giant's Causeway and much higher in places, they were formed by the slow cooling of volcanic rocks deep underground. Intrusive sills show a progression in their chemical compositions, from olivine-rich rocks at the base to rocks with very little or no olivine at the top.

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