Monument record 586 - LOCH NIC RUAIDHE, BARRA

NF70SW 3 7025 0188.

(NF 7025 0188) Dun (NR)
OS 6"map, Inverness-shire, 2nd ed., (1903)

A ruin in Loch nic Ruaidhe is respectively described as :- A tumbled mass of stones rising some 8ft above the water, the remains of a dun on one of the smaller islets in the NE corner of the loch, with a number of boulders, possibly the commencement of a sunk causeway, stretching out towards it from the N shore (RCAHMS 1928).
and :-
A crannog with tumbled walling, with a causeway leading to it from the shore by way of a second and larger island (A Young 1958).
Neither authority suggests that there is more than one island on the loch with a 'ruin' on it.
RCAHMS 1928; A Young 1958.

This scrub-covered conical island, measuring 22.0m E to W and situated approx. 30.0m from the N shore of the loch, was inaccessible at the time of investigation, but appears to be as described by the RCAHMS. Vague traces of a wall-face can be seen through the tumble of stones which surrounds the island.
Large boulders beneath the surface of the water, leading from the N shore of the loch to the island, are probably the remains of a causeway. This island is the only one which appears to have ruins on it.
Visited by OS (N K B) 16 May 1965.

...a double-walled structure had existed here, with gallery slabs linking the inner and outer walls still visible below the water. The wall survives to five courses (2m) at one point, and the overall size of the structure was about 15 x 13m. It was linked to the shore by a stone causeway 22m long and 2m wide, which is now 2m below surface level.
Brannigan, 2000, 6

L32 (NF702019) Remains of stone building on small islet in Loch na Ruaidhe. Collapsed masonry with five courses to 2 m high at west end. Two concentric walls, each c. 1 m wide separated by a 'gallery' about 50-60 cm wide, can be traced around the west end. The overall dimensions of the structure are c. 15 x 13 m. A submerged causeway 22 m long and 2 m wide joins the islet to the shore on its northern side, and there may be some sort of outwork between the causeway and the main structure. The causeway is up to 2 m below the present water level. The quantity of stone collapse, including that observed under water, suggest this structure may never have been carried up into a full 'tower'. Visited by L. Davidson in 1999. (RCAHMS 1928: 134, No. 454). ARH.
Branigan and Foster 2000, 19.

The monument known as loch nic Ruaidhe, dun, Barra, comprises the remains of a later prehistoric (Iron Age) island dun, situated in Loch nic Tuaidhe on Barra. The area to be scheduled is irregular, measuring 58m from N-S by 40m transversely, to include the dun, its causeway and an area around in which associated remains may survive.
HS scheduling document 8.11.2005

RCAHMS, 1928, The RCAHMCS 9th Report & Inventory: Outer Hebrides, Skye and the Small Isles, 134, No. 454 (Bibliographic reference). SWE5587.

A Young, 1955-6a, Proc Soc Antiq Scot, 292 (Bibliographic reference). SWE8434.

Keith Branigan & Patrick Foster, 2000, From Barra to Berneray: Archaeological Survey and Excavation in the Southern Isles ... (Bibliographic reference). SWE41033.

Keith Brannigan, 2000, The Buaile nam Bodach Project (Unpublished document). SWE41026.