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Boreray to the west of Berneray

Boreray to the west of Berneray

Boreray, in the Sound of Harris, is not to be confused with its namesake in the St Kilda Group. The 1841 Census indicated some 181 people living on the island about two miles to the west of Berneray. By the end of the 19th Century there were still a hundred people surviving there, but 90 years ago, in 1923, an evacuation at the request of the islanders took place and the number of residents fell to those of one family. They remained until the 1960s. In 1999 a sole islander started to rebuild a crofthouse to provide holiday accommodation. This was completed and brought business, although its informative and well-illustrated website still ends with the words – ‘Sorry, no vacancies in 2010’!