From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

Egilsay

One of the Orkney Islands in Scotland

Summary

One of the Orkney Islands in Scotland

Field	Value
Image	St Magnus Church.jpg
ImageCaption	Egilsay from Rousay with St Magnus Church on the skyline
location_map	Scotland Orkney
caption	Egilsay shown within Orkney
coordinates
GridReference	HY470301
celtic name	?Eaglais (see meaning)
scots name	Egilsay
norse name	Egilsey
meaning of name	Disputed – either Norse "Egil's island" or Norse "ey" + Celtic "eaglais" – "Church island"
area	650 ha
area rank	67
highest elevation	35 m
Population	17
population density	2.6/km2
population rank	62=
main settlement	Skaill
island group	Orkney Islands
local authority	Orkney
references

www.aroundrousay.co.uk/egilsay.shtml

Egilsay (, ) is one of the Orkney Islands in Scotland, lying east of Rousay. The anglicized name of Eagleshay was used in past centuries. The island is largely farmland and is known for St Magnus Church, dedicated or re-dedicated to Saint Magnus, who was killed on the island in 1117 by an axe blow to the head. For hundreds of years the story of St Magnus, part of the Orkneyinga saga, was considered just a legend until a skull with a large crack in it, such as it had been stricken by an axe, was found in the walls of St Magnus Cathedral in Kirkwall.

Etymology

Unusually for the Northern Isles, it has been suggested that Egilsay may have a partly Gaelic name. While at first sight, it appears to be Egil's island, "Egil" being a Norse personal name, the Gaelic eaglais (Celtic "eccles") meaning church, may be part of the root, as the island is dominated by a church of pre-Norse foundation. The island of Kili Holm just to the north, may represent cille, a monastic cell.

Present day

The island's population was 26 as recorded by the 2011 census a drop of almost a third since 2001 when there were 37 usual residents. During the same period, Scottish island populations as a whole grew by 4% to 103,702. By 2022 the population had declined to 17.

Orkney Ferries sail from the island to Tingwall on the Orkney Mainland via Wyre and Rousay.

References

{{Orkneyinga
{{RESAS
Haswell-Smith, Hamish. (2004) The Scottish Islands. Edinburgh. Canongate.
{{NRS1C
{{GRO10
[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-23711202 "Scotland's 2011 census: Island living on the rise"]. BBC News. Retrieved 18 August 2013.

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

islands-of-the-orkney-islands

Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about Egilsay — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report