Welcome to An Iodhlann, the historical centre in Tiree.
An Iodhlann, pronounced ‘an-ee-lun’, is Gaelic for the stackyard where the harvest is stored.
OPENING TIMES 2025
During the summer season, July and August we are open to the public Monday – Friday 10.30 – 15.30.
Outside peak season we are open to the public whenever our staff are working in the building, so if the lights are on you are welcome! Opening days and times are advertised monthly in An Tirisdeach and displayed in our window.
We welcome visitors for a browse or to do research at any time so please email to request a time to suit you aniodhlann@tireebroadband.com
We have plenty of books to read and a kettle! Please come and visit.
VOLUNTEERS
Can you help us open An Iodhlann? New volunteers are always welcome to do a once-a-week or occasional 2 1/2 hour shift in Tiree’s historical centre. We open every weekday in July and August and this is our main volunteer time but we like to open as much as possible during the quieter months too. You don’t have to be a history expert! Just enjoy a good chat. Let us know if you can help. Please call Dr John Holliday 07786 496 275 or doc.holliday@tireebroadband.com or David Beaman, Archive Manager, 01879 220793 or aniodhlann@tireebroadband.com
Even very occasional help would be appreciated.
We have been collecting material about Tiree—old letters, emigrant lists, maps, reports, artefacts, photographs, stories and songs—since 1997. Stretching from the 3,000 million year old Lewissian gneiss which provides the bedrock of the island to last week’s cattle sale prices, we are interested in everything about the island, its people and the world-wide Tiree diaspora. We currently have 11,800 items in our collection.
Everything is catalogued on our website, including all 4500 photographs. If you want more information about anything you see or hear on this site, don’t hesitate to get in touch. And we are still collecting! Please get in touch if you have something connected to Tiree that we might be interested in.
Featured Objects
Follow our Facebook page for latest features. If there is anything that you think would be of particular interest to others, please let us know.
Latest News
TIREE HISTORY CÈILIDH
Look out for our series of informal discussions on various items from our archive. These have included archeology, geology and the music and poetry of Na Bàrd Thirisdeach.
OLD STONES AND BONES
A flint tool from Balevullin that was made 11,000 years ago by Scotland’s first people, now in a Glasgow museum. An awl—a tool to make holes in a hide—carved from a red deer bone and found in Balephuil by Morton Boyd. And an 1889 cutting from the Oban Times about a prehistoric container of ‘bog butter’ found in peat cuttings in Gortan, Coll.
We now see the launch of a new website for anyone who is interested in the archaeology of Tiree, Gunna and Coll. Called the Tiree and Coll Archaeology Database, it currently contains 1041 entries, ranging from photographs of Neolithic rock art in Kilmoluaig to the record of a wooden scutcher, an implement used to beat flax during linen processing and now on display at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh. This was collected on Tiree in 1880 and made from teak, probably salvaged from a boat.
The website has been designed by local company Isle Develop, the work of Rhoda Meek, Mark Vale and Rou Worsley.
The site is the brainchild of Dr John Holliday: ‘I wanted to get everything archaeological together in one place: all the reports, photographs, newspaper cuttings, books, articles and finds now in mainland museums. It will always be a work in progress, but there’s enough content now to make it more widely available. I’m still waiting for information from Kilmartin Museum, as their database is undergoing an upgrade. The two islands complement each other nicely—Tiree has got more of some things, Coll more of others—and Romayne Wainwright on Coll has been helping at that end. There is something for everyone. Isle Design have done a great job, and the website is easy to find your way around. Do get in touch if you have any questions or additional information.’
TIREE ROCKS!
Come and see our latest display, Tiree Rocks! A collection of all the stones you are likely to spot in Tiree, along with fascinating descriptions of the local geology.
Look out for regular events at An Iodhlann including our popular History Cèilidhs – an informal gathering to discover and chat about our various archives. Our latest news is available on our Facebook page
- New exhibition panels - 2023 was our 25th Anniversary! Have a look at the commemorative newsletter. We are pleased to be able to show you the accompanying 25th Anniversary exhibition panels as well. We hope you enjoy them.
- Twenty-Five Years of an Island Stackyard - June 2023 saw the publication of a special edition of An Iodhlann’s members newsletter, Sìl Eòlais, where Dr John Holliday looks back on the first 25 years of An Iodhlann. Membership Members of An Iodhlann receive our biannual newsletter, Sìl Eòlais, free entry to all our exhibitions and updates on important developments. You can choose […]
- Children’s Tìr Ìseal performance online - Video and stills of the Tìr Ìseal nan Òran performance by school children at An Talla, Tiree, is now available to view online at https://www.tir-iseal.co.uk/tir-iseal-production-group. The production is divided into scenes for easy viewing, and Jack’s films, and Ian, Seonaidh and Angus’ music and song, plus the Tìr Ìseal Tapestry, are all available under the ‘Our Creative […]