Interdisciplinary workshop on Uist's taighean-tughaidh

This week, LSI Senior Research Fellow Iain Caimbeul and CIALL Project Manager Gordon Wells joined with UHI colleagues in History and Archaeology, local historian Tommy Macdonald, and community partners in Ceòlas Uibhist for a two-day workshop on recording Uist’s taighean-tughaidh (thatched houses).

There was plenty to explore in a truly interdisciplinary exchange, with the prospect of a variety of outcomes, from further recording of local knowledge and stories to a fullscale PhD level documentation exercise incorporating crossdisciplinary methodologies, techniques and insights centred on this iconic vernacular architectural form.

The workshop, organised by Dr Rebecca Rennell of the UHI Archaeology Institute, was held at Cnoc Soilleir in Daliburgh, South Uist, the new high-tech home for Ceòlas shared also with UHI North West and Hebrides staff in Music and Archaeology. An afternoon excursion to examine the ruins of Neil Maceachan’s home in nearby Howbeg provided a striking contrast, with Tommy on hand to outline and underline the ongoing presence and contemporary relevance of Uist’s historic material culture and Gaelic heritage, both tangible and intangible.