Editing Barra (section)

===Lairds and pirates===
[[File:Kisimul Castle (Chiosmuil ) Castlebay.JPG|thumb|[[Kisimul Castle]]]]
Following the forfeiture, and in that same year, [[Alexander of Islay, Earl of Ross|the Lord of the Isles]] granted [[Laird]]ship of Barra (and half of [[South Uist]]) to Giolla Adhamhnáin Mac Néill, [[Scottish clan chief|Chief]] of [[Clan MacNeil]].

Headquartering themselves at [[Kisimul Castle]] and making use of [[Birlinn]]s, the MacNeils became famed for [[piracy]] after attacking English ships during the reign of [[Elizabeth I of England|Queen Elizabeth I]]. They were summoned by [[James VI of Scotland|King James VI]] – King of Scotland – to answer for their behaviour. The Chief, Roderick MacNeil ("Rory the Turbulent"), argued that he thought King James would be pleased, since Queen Elizabeth had beheaded his mother [[Mary, Queen of Scots]]. Pleased, King James released him. {{Citation needed|date=November 2021}}

The mainly [[Catholic Church in Scotland|Catholic population]] of the island was under serious threat during the [[Jacobite Uprising of 1745]]. According to Bishop [[John Geddes (bishop)|John Geddes]], "Early in the spring of [[1746]], some ships of war came to the coast of the isle of Barra and landed some men, who threatened they would lay desolate the whole island if the [[Roman Catholic priest|priest]] was not delivered up to them. Father 
[[James Grant (Scottish bishop)|James Grant]], who was missionary then, and afterward Bishop, being informed of the threats in a safe retreat in which he was in a little island, surrendered himself, and was carried prisoner to [[Mingarry Castle]] on the Western coast (i.e. [[Ardnamurchan]]) where he was detained for some weeks."<ref>Charles MacDonald (2011), ''Moidart: Among the Clanranalds'', Birlinn Press. Page 176.</ref>

After long imprisonment at [[Inverness]] and in a [[prison hulk]] in the [[River Thames]], Father Grant was deported to the [[Netherlands]] and warned never to return to the [[British Isles]]. Like the other priests imprisoned with him, Father Grant did so almost immediately.<ref>Charles MacDonald (2011), ''Moidart: Among the Clanranalds'', Birlinn Press. Pages 176-177.</ref>

[[File:Watermill ruin - geograph.org.uk - 75677.jpg|thumb|An abandoned watermill on Barra]]
The descendants of the [[Scottish clan chief|Clan Chiefs]] held on to Barra until 1838, when the island was sold to Colonel [[John Gordon (soldier)|John Gordon]] of [[Cluny Castle|Cluny]] (for the sum of £38,050). Roderick MacNeil, Chief of the MacNeils, had already abandoned Kisimul Castle, and built a mansion in the north of Barra; the ensuing debt was one of the reasons he sold the island.

In common with many of the new [[Anglo-Scottish]] landlords, Colonel Gordon [[Highland Clearances|evicted most of the islanders]] to make way for sheep farming. Some of the displaced islanders variously went to the Scottish mainland. Others joined the [[Scottish diaspora]] in [[Australia]], [[New Zealand]], the [[United States]], and [[Canada]].

Gaelic [[traditional singer]] and Barra native [[Flora MacNeil]] later recalled one the best sources of the Gaelic songs she learned at local [[ceilidh]]s was her mother's cousin, Mary Johnstone. Johnstone's parents had moved to [[Mingulay]] after being evicted by Colonel Gordon's [[Factor (Scotland)|factor]]s  and she returned to her ancestral island after Mingulay was abandoned in 1912. In later years, Johnstone would regularly visit the MacNeil family's croft near [[Castlebay]] and sing at the ceilidhs.<ref>Edited by Eberhard Bort (2011), '''Tis Sixty Years Since: The 1951 Edinburgh People's Festival Ceilidh and the Scottish Folk Revival'', pages 75-80.</ref>

By far the worst mass evictions took place, according to Barra ''[[seanchaidh]]'' (historian) John "The Coddy" MacPherson, during the [[Highland Potato Famine]] of the [[1840s]]. Many residents of Barra were unwillingly rounded up and forced by Colonel Gordon's factors to board the ''Admiral'', an immigrant ship anchored at [[Lochboisdale]], [[South Uist]], and which then set sail for [[Canada]].<ref>John Lorne Campbell (1992), ''Tales from Barra: Told by The Coddy'', Birlinn. Pages 67-69.</ref>

MacPherson later said of those who were evicted, "Now they were aboard, and they sailed away and it took them six months, I think, to get across from Lochboisdale to [[Quebec]] - or the [[St. Lawrence Seaway|St. Lawrence]] somewhere anyway. After that, there was nothing for them but trees and poverty, and those wretched fellows had to back it for life. Going through the hardships of the emigrants who went across the [[Atlantic]] in the ''Admiral'', not many people would credit them today."<ref name="John Lorne Campbell 1992 Page 69">John Lorne Campbell (1992), ''Tales from Barra: Told by The Coddy'', Birlinn. Page 69.</ref>

The MacNeil Chiefs were also among the migrants, settling at first in Canada, but moving to the United States by the 20th century. Barra was restored to MacNeil ownership in 1937 when the Barra estate, which encompassed most of the island, was bought by Robert Lister Macneil, an American. In 2000, his heir, [[Ian Roderick Macneil]] (another American), let Kisimul Castle to [[Historic Scotland]], on a 1000-year lease (for a rental of £1 and a bottle of whisky, per annum). In 2003, he transferred ownership of the Barra Estate to the [[Scottish Government]];.<ref>{{cite news |title=A gift to Scotland&nbsp;– the isle of Barra |url=http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=980092003 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120717232553/http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=980092003 |url-status=dead |archive-date=17 July 2012 |first=John |last=Ross |date=6 September 2003 |access-date=4 November 2007 |work=[[The Scotsman]] }}</ref> Under Scottish law, the inhabitants have the right to take possession of the estate themselves, if they so wish.

Having been flown unofficially for at least a decade, the island's flag received official recognition from the [[Lyon Court]] and the [[Flag Institute]] in November 2017. The design is a white [[Nordic cross]] on a green background.<ref name="flag-recognised-bbc">{{cite news| title=Isle of Barra's flag officially recognised| date=23 November 2017| url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-42094599 |work=BBC News |access-date=26 May 2018}}</ref><ref name="flag-institute">{{cite web|title=Barra Flag|url={{Flag Institute|Barra}}|publisher=Flag Institute|access-date=26 May 2018}}</ref>