Sula Sgeir

Scottish Gaelic name	Sula Sgeir or Sùlaisgeir
Old Norse name	Súlasker
Meaning of name	GannetSkerry
Location
Sula Sgeir Sula Sgeir shown within Scotland
Coordinates	59°5′44.25″N6°9′23.37″W / 59.0956250°N 6.1564917°W /59.0956250; -6.1564917
Physical geography
Island group	North Atlantic
Area	15 hectares (0.15 km2)[1]
Highest elevation	(Near Sròn na Lice) > 70 m
Administration
Council area	Comhairle nan Eilean Siar
Country	Scotland
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Demographics
Population	0
References	[2][3][4]
Sula Sgeir Lighthouse Comhairle Nan Eilean Siar
Lighthouse and Cairn on Sulasgeir
Coordinates	59°5′37.47″N6°9′31.97″W / 59.0937417°N 6.1588806°W /59.0937417; -6.1588806
Foundation	concrete base
Construction	metal tower
Height	5 m (16 ft)
Shape	square parallelepiped with lantern
Markings	white tower
Power source	solar power
Operator	Rona and Sula Sgeir National Nature Reserve
Focal height	74 m (243 ft)
Range	11 nmi (20 km)[5]
Characteristic	Fl W 15 s

Sula Sgeir is a small, uninhabitedScottish islet in theNorth Atlantic, 18 kilometres (9+1⁄2 nautical miles) west ofRona. One of the most remote islands of theBritish Isles, it lies approximately forty nautical miles (seventy kilometres) north ofLewis and is best known for its population ofgannets. It has a narrow elongated shape running north-northeast to south-southwest, and is approximately 900 metres (980 yd) long by typically 100 metres (110 yd) wide (apart from a central headland projecting a further 100 metres (110 yd) on the easterly side).^[4]

A ruined stonebothy called Taigh Beannaichte (Blessed House) is on the east headland, Sgeir an Teampaill. A small automated lighthouse on the south end at Sròn na Lice is regularly damaged by the huge waves which break over the island during roughNorth Atlantic storms. Despite this, the island has diverse flora.^{[citation needed]}

The modern name is from theOld Norsesúla, "gannet" andsker, "skerry".^[3] In the 16th centuryDean Munro referred to the island as "Suilskeray".^[6] Macculloch's 1819Description refers to "Sulisker",^[7] anAnglicised spelling that is still occasionally used.^[8] There isSuleskjer, a skerry inUtsira,Norway which has a name with a similar origin; there is also aSule Skerry inOrkney.

The island is made of hardgneiss rock, the summit of a submarine mountain. Erosion causes the bedrock to shear into long flat pieces. The sea has created a series of interconnectedsea caves and tunnels throughout the southern part of the island. During big Atlantic storms, waves break right over the top of Sula Sgeir.^[9]

Saint Brianhuil^[10] or Brenhilda, the sister of St Ronan of Iona and North Rona, is said to have lived on Sula Sgeir as a recluse.^[10] She was reportedly found dead in abothy with a cormorant's nest in her ribcage.^[11][12][9] The poets Karla Van Vliet, David Wheatley and Cainneach Rua have written poems about her.^[12][13]

Sula Sgeir has a special place in the seafaring history of the men of theNess district onLewis. Dean Munro visited the Hebrides in 1549 and his is one of the earliest accounts written about theWestern Isles.

Together withNorth Rona, Sula Sgeir was formerly anational nature reserve because of its importance for birdlife andgrey seal breeding. It remains a protected area for nature and is a Site of Special Scientific Interest and a Special Protection Area.^[14]

Sula Sgeir, withNorth Rona, historically formed part of theBarvas estate on Lewis, but acommunity buy-out of the estate from the Duckworth family in 2016 did not include the two islands, which would apparently have increased the purchase price by £80,000.^[15]

Munro's description of Sula Sgeir mentions that the men of Ness sailed in their small craft to "fetche hame thair boatful of dry wild fowls with wild fowl fedderi".^[6] How long before 1549 the Nessmen sailed to Sula Sgeir each year to collect the young gannets for food and feathers is not known, but it may be assumed that it was a tradition for centuries. That tradition is still carried on today. A 1797 census report written by the Reverend Donald McDonald states:

"There is in Ness a most venturous set of people who for a few years back, at the hazard of their lives, went there in an open six-oared boat without even the aid of a compass."^[16][9]

The flesh of the young gannet orguga is regarded as a delicacy in Ness today, though, for others, it is an acquired taste. It was a popular meat in earlier times in Scotland. In the sixteenth century it was served at the tables of Scots kings and was a favourite with the wealthy as a ’whet’ or appetizer before main meals.

In the autumn of each year, a group of 10 Nessmen sail to Sula Sgeir to kill a maximum of 2,000 young birds.^[17] They set up residence for about two weeks in stone bothys. Working in pairs, the men take the fledglings from their nests with poles, catching them around the neck with a rope noose, then kill the birds with a blow to the head. The demand is often so great that the birds have to be rationed. In 2009, a single guga fetched £16.^[18] 1953 saw the last journey under sail for the guga hunt, thereafter a fishing trawler was used, although it was still a five-hour trip.^[9]

The Sula Sgeir hunt, which would otherwise be illegal under theWildlife and Countryside Act 1981, receives an annual licence from the government, which allows it to continue.Scottish Natural Heritage (NatureScot), which is now responsible for granting the licence, states that the hunt is sustainable, although it has been criticised by animal welfare groups. TheScottish SPCA describes it as "barbaric and inhumane" and believes it causes unnecessary suffering to the birds, with many taking several blows to be killed.^[19][20]

In 2025, NatureScot granted a licence for the hunt with a limit of 500 birds, this being the first licensed resumption of the hunt since 2021. Previously the standard number licensed had been 2,000 birds.^[21]

There are some 5,000 breeding pairs of gannets on Sula Sgeir, which they share with other bird species such asblack-legged kittiwakes,common guillemots,puffins,northern fulmars and in the summers of 2005 to 2007 aBlack-browed Albatross was resident in the gannet colony.^[22][9]

The island has been designated anImportant Bird Area (IBA) byBirdLife International because it supports breeding populations of several species ofseabirds.^[23]

• In 2009, director Mike Day sailed with the guga hunters to Sula Sgeir and filmed on the island over 10 days. The resulting film was commissioned by BBC Scotland and broadcast in January 2011.^[24][25]
• Scottish writerPeter May uses the setting of Sula Sgeir describing the annual expedition in his crime storyThe Blackhouse in 2011 (first published in a French translation in 2009).^[26][27]
• Robert Macfarlane describes the hunt at Sula Sgeir in his bookThe Old Ways: A Journey On Foot. He does not participate in the hunt, but circumnavigates the rock in a small craft at the same time as the arrival of the hunters.^[28]
• In 2018,BBC Alba airedSulasgeir: An t-Sealg/The Hunt, a Gaelic-language documentary about the traditional annual guga hunt held on Sulasgeir by members of the community of Ness on Lewis.^[29]

• North Rona
• List of outlying islands of Scotland
• List of lighthouses in Scotland
• List of Northern Lighthouse Board lighthouses
• List of Important Bird Areas in the United Kingdom

• Haswell-Smith, Hamish (2004).The Scottish Islands. Edinburgh: Canongate.ISBN 978-1-84195-454-7.
• Macculloch, John (1819)A Description of the Western Islands of Scotland, Including the Isle of Man. Constable.
• Macculloch, John (1824)The highlands and western isles of Scotland, in letters to Sir Walter Scott. Longman.
• Monro, Sir Donald (1549)Description of the Western Isles of Scotland. William Auld. Edinburgh - 1774 edition.
• Scoresby, William (2009).The Arctic Whaling Journals of William Scoresby the Younger. Ashgate Publishing.

• Atkinson, Robert (1995).Island going. Birlinn.ISBN 978-1-874744-31-3.

• Beatty, John; Brian Jackman (1992).Sula: Seabird Hunters of Lewis. Michael Joseph.ISBN 978-0-7181-3634-5.

• Murray, Donald S. (2008).The Guga Hunters. Birlinn.ISBN 978-1-84158-684-7.

Wikimedia Commons has media related toSula Sgeir.

• News article on 1912 journey (via Archive.org)
• Charles Tait Photographs of Sula Sgeir
• Guga Hunters

• Seabird colonies
• Important Bird Areas of the Outer Hebrides
• Protected areas of the Outer Hebrides
• Skerries of Scotland
• Uninhabited islands of the Outer Hebrides

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