Monument record MWE157522 - Eilean an-t Sagairt, Loch á Phuirt-Ruaidh

The larger island is known locally as Eilean an t-Sagairt (or Priest’s Island) and is said to have been a retreat for a 17th century Irish Catholic priest (Canmore); hence, the local name of the loch. The irregularly shaped island is located in the centre of the loch and is connected to a large island/peninsula to the south, known
as Eilean Dubh Froich, via a c. 39m causeway. The island is natural with some possible modifications visible along its northern perimeter; other modifications could also be present elsewhere but obscured by the heavy vegetation. A natural outcrop can be seen at the west end of the islet and the loch bed around the islet is filled with boulders and cobbles. The surface of the islet is covered in shrubs and although LiDAR was collected at this loch, the dense vegetation prevented any further understanding of the nature of the islet and any possible structural remains on it. Rather surprisingly, a substantial number of sherds from a single Neolithic vessel (undecorated but with distinctive everted with internal bevel Neolithic rim form) were found to the north of the island.It is worth noting that at least one natural island augmented artificially into a ‘crannog’ during the Neolithic, Loch Langabhat, is known further north in Lewis (Garrow & Sturt 2019). Equally, it is also possible that this material was in some way associated with the more clearly artificial and crannog-like islet, that could conceivably have been constructed in the Neolithic, 50m to the west. Eilean an t-Sagairt would benefit from more detailed investigation as the wider context from which this important Neolithic material was recovered is not at present sufficiently clear.
Blankshein.S et al (2022)

Stephanie Blankshein, Angela Gannon, Duncan Garrow, Fraser Sturt, 2022, UIST CRANNOG SURVEY (Monograph). SWE41375.