Black and white photograph of Willie MacNeill of the Land, Barrapol.
Willie MacNeill (Uilleam an tailleir) from the Land, Barrapol thatching Kate MacDonald`s house in Bail` Ur, Balephuil. The white-washed concrete roof of Taigh MacKay can be seen on the left. Photographed by Morton Boyd in the 1940s or 1950s.
Thatched house in Salum
Photograph of John Lachie MacInnes’ thatched house in Salum.
Courtesy of Mr Alan Boyd
J. Morton Boyd photographed John Lachie MacInnes’ house in Salum in the 1960s. This was the last house in Tiree to have its thatch held down by sìoman-ruadh or coir rope. Straw rope was used until the mid-19th century; nowadays chicken wire or plastic netting is used instead.
Tiree houses were made as far as possible from local materials – stone, lime, clay, straw rope and the thatch. Only glass and wood for the roof timbers, doors and windows were imported. They look utterly immovable but nothing could be further from the truth.
Islanders moved around a great deal, either by choice or because the factor gave them no option. The thatch had to be discarded but the turfs and roof timbers were taken down and put into the back of a cart and the stones moved on sledges, load by load, to the new site.
Colour photograph of John Lachie MacInnes`s house in Salum.
John Lachie MacInnes`s house in Salum photographed by Morton Boyd in the 1940s or 1950s.
Black and white photograph of Taigh Dhonnchaidh Bhain in Bail` Ur, Balephuill.
Taigh Dhonnchaidh Bhain in Bail` Ur, Balephuill, photographed by Morton Boyd in the 1940s or 50s.
Newspaper cutting about a council flat for sale in Crossapol.
Description and photograph of No 9 Sruthan Terrace, Crossapol which is on the market.
Account by George Holleyman of his life on Tiree 1941-43.
Account by amateur archaeologist George Holleyman of his time in the RAF Service Police on Tiree from September 1941 to June 1943
Photocopied report by Argyll & Bute District about the thatched houses on Tiree, Coll and Mull.
Survey of thatched houses on Tiree, Coll and Mull giving the owner, its listing, rateable value, description, uses, remarks and analysis.
Hardback book `A Different Country` by Michael Russell.
The photographs of Werner Kissling taken in the mainly in the Outer Hebrides between 1934 and 1959.
De-accessioned 26.2.2026.
Audio cassette recording of Gordon Donald talking about thatched houses.
Gordon Donald talks about the thatched houses of Tiree, their construction and upkeep, how they withstand storms and differ from ‘black houses’; he lists all the thatched houses in Tiree and their owners and talks about people who can thatch, cutting marram grass, cottars’ houses and their legal rights, and the cost of renovating two thatched houses in Kilmoluaig.
Black and white postcard of Scarinish.
Felt-roofed house in Scarinish.
Black and white photograph of thatched house in Brock in 1925.
Thatched house in Brock, from a small photograph album titled ‘Tiree 1925’ thought to come originally from Silversands.
