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Features: Scottish Parishes » Historic Shires » Inverness-shire » Bracadale

Loch Beag, Coillore, Isle of Skye by Gordon Hatton
Loch Beag, Coillore, Isle of Skye © 2014, Gordon Hatton

BRACADALE PARISH

TABLE OF CONTENTS


ALTERNATE NAMES AND SPELLING:

Minginish and Bracadale


LOCATION

Location Description:

Bracadale is a parish in the island of Skye. It is bounded on the south and south-west by the sea, and on other sides by the parishes of Duirinish, Snizort, Portree, and Strath. (1867: The Imperial Gazetteer of Scotland, by John Marius Wilson).

Shire, District, and Region Timeline:

  • Shire: Inverness-shire (Before 1707)
  • County: Inverness (After 1707)
  • District: Inverness (Before 1930)
  • Landward District: Skye (1930-1975)
  • Region: Highland (1975-1996)
  • District: Skye and Lochalsh (1975-1996)

Cities, Towns, Villages, and Hamlets:

Balmeanach, Bracadale, Bualintur, Carbost, Caroy, Coillore, Drynoch, Glenbrittle, Ose, Merkadale, Molchlach, Portnalong, Sligachan, Struan, Talisker, Ullinish


PARISH TIMELINE

PRE-REFORMATION GOVERNANCE:

  • Diocese: The Isles

POST-REFORMATION GOVERNANCE:

  • Synod: Glenelg
  • Presbytery: Skye

PAROCHIAL OVERVIEW:

The old church of Bracadale was dedicated to St Malrubha. At Carbost, in this parish, there is a mission chapel.

CHURCH OF SCOTLAND CLERGY:

Includes ministers, licentiates, assistants, readers, and clerks.

  • John M'Colgan, 1614
  • John MacKinnon, 1632
  • Lachlan Fraser, 1641
  • John Bethune, 1689
  • Daniel MacAulay, 1708
  • William MacLeod, 1749
  • Roderick MacLeod, 1768
  • John Shaw, 1813
  • Roderick MacLeod, 1823
  • John Robertson Glass, 1838
  • Neil MacKinnon, 1843
  • John William Tolmie, 1856
  • Roderick Morison, 1864
  • John MacLean, 1876
  • Kenneth Ross, 1904
  • Dugald Bell, 1916
  • Hugh Black, 1920

(1928: Fasti Ecclesiæ Scoticanæ, by Hew Scott, D. D.)


RECORDS

Parochial Registers:

Parish registers turned over to the Registrar-General, as a result of the Registration of Births, Deaths, and Marriages (Scotland) Act of 1854. The letters B. D. and M. indicate Births (or Baptisms), Deaths (or Burials), and Marriages (or Proclamations of Banns) respectively. Numbers indicate separate volumes or books. Note: These records are by no means complete or without damage; consult the Detailed List of the Old Parochial Registers of Scotland (1872) to learn more about the condition of the records.

  • (1) B. and M. 1802-19
  • (2) B. and M. 1820-54; D. 1834-39

OPR and RD Numbers
Date RangeNameNumberType
1802-1854Bracadale109OPR
1855-1897Bracadale109RD
1898-1970Bracadale109-1RD
1898-1970Minginish109-2RD
1971-1971Boisdale109RD
1972-2007Boisdale253RD
2009Comhairle Nan Eilean Siar253RD
2026(Bracadale) Highland Council; Struan Community Council
2026(Boisdale) Na h-Eileanan Siar Counil; Lochboisdale Community Council
2026(Minginish) Highland Council; Minginish Community Council

(2009: Parishes and Registration Districts of Scotland - Old and New, National Records of Scotland)

Local community councils (2026) are provided as a potential source of additional information for settlements within the original boundaries of the parish. (Source)

Population:

Statistics from informal and official censuses

  • 1755: 1,907
  • 1831: 1,769
  • 1841: 1,824
  • 1851: 1,597
  • 1861: 1,335
  • 1881: 947
  • 1901: 872 (Bracadale: 384; Minginish: 488)
  • 1911: 805 (Bracadale: 346; Minginish: 459)

RESIDENTS


Common Surnames:

Cameron, Campbell, Chisholm, Gillies, MacDonald, MacLeod, MacRae, Matheson, Nicolson, Stewart

Land-owners, teachers, and other professionals:

Note: Names appearing in research materials, other than censuses. Simple names (First name, surname only) have been omitted unless they appear associated with large properties. All women's names, and men's names with occupations, military ranks, or peerage titles are included.

  • Norman MACLEOD, Chief of Clan MacLeod

Other residents:

By the Reverend Mr Roderick M'Leod.
"With regard to the population in the parish, the present amount is about 2250 souls. From 1771 to 1774, 128 souls emigrated. In August 1788, about 200 souls went from this parish to North America, and about the same number in October 1790. The number of males will be upwards of a third more than that of the females. There are no towns or villages in the parish. The Gaelic is the principal language spoken in this parish."
(This section contains excerpts, at times restructured or paraphrased, from an article appearing in Statistical Account of Scotland, Sir John Sinclair, 1791-1799)


NOTES:

Primary Sources:
Statistical Account of Scotland (1791-1799), Volume 3, p. 245
New Statistical Account of Scotland (1834-1845), Volume 14, Section I, p. 295

See Parish Page Sources for all source information and links.


Photo credits: (Featured) Loch Beag, Coillore, Isle of Skye, © 2014 Gordon Hatton, used under Creative Commons License CC BY-SA 2.0, (Related Resources) Inverness-shire Locator Map, © 2024, Elianfoo, used under Creative Commons License CC BY-SA 4.0.
Related Resources
Map of Scotland with Inverness-shire highlighted
Location of Inverness-shire
See more maps at Wikimedia Commons
Glossary
  • Burghs:
  • Royal - Towns on royal lands
  • Regality - Towns granted to noblemen/landowners
  • Barony - Towns granted to tenant-in-chief (laird)
  • Police - Towns with elected officials
  • Small - Population under 20,000
  • Large - Population over 20,000
  •  
  • Chapel-of-Ease: Small church for those living far from the main church
  • Collegiate church: See What is a Collegiate Church?
  • Commune kirk: Owned by a larger church
  • Court of Teinds: Controlled funds for support of clergy
  •  
  • Friars:
  • Black - Dominican
  • Grey - Franciscan
  • Red - Trinitarian
  • White - Carmelite
  •  
  • Iron chapel: Building made of corrugated galvanized iron
  •  
  • Landward District: Rural part of a district
  •  
  • Mensal: Source of income to support clergy member (Roman Catholic)
  •  
  • OPR: Old Parochial Register
  •  
  • Pre-Reformation: Before 1560
  • Prebend: Source of income to support a clergy member
  •  
  • QO: Quoad Omnia - Civil and church control
  • QS: Quoad Sacra - Church control only
  •  
  • RD: Registration District - Civil control
  •  
  • Tryst: Large-scale market or fair, particularly for livestock
  •  
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