Shieling of the One Night

In the Nov 11, 2014 post I wrote that I'd yet to visit an Airidh na h-aon Oidche; a shieling of the one night. So when I was on Lewis in July I decided that the time had come to visit one. The 'one night' typically refers to some scary incident, or how someone died, on the first night a shieling was occupied, and that no one ever stayed there again. See this link for one such story. Another, and more prosaic possibility, is that they got the name because they were halfway houses of a sort. When the community had to travel more than one day to reach their shielings they'd spend a night at one of these in-between shelters. 

The one night shieling on Lewis I decided to visit lies at NB 01971 28500, two miles northeast of Ishlibhig. I first learned of it from an article in the Uig News by Dave Roberts, that you can find on this Comman Eachdraidh Uig web-page.

Mealaisbhal seen from the walk

Visiting the Ishlibhig one-night shieling would be an interesting side trip to a climb of Mealaisbhal, at almost 1900 feet the highest hill on Lewis. But I was about to set out on a three-day hike, so I decided to save my legs and just make the short walk out and back to the shieling.

It is easy to find. All you have to do is park your car near the bridge over the Allt na Gile, a mile north of Ishlibhig. From there, 45 minutes walking due east through soft, grassy terrain, leads to the site.

Looking to the northwest from the one night shieling

There are two ruined shielings here, separated by about 50 metres. I believe the easternmost is the one night shieling. As you can see from the photos, it is a beautiful location. And so I have to disagree with the description in the article referenced above that it's 'not very inviting'. The sea is visible, as are the Flannan Isles, 20 miles off to the west.

Flannans on the horizon

There are quite a few one night shielings in the islands: Benbecula's is a mile southeast of the Market Stance, North Uist has one near the air ambulance memorial at Clachan an Luib, and Raasay's is a half-mile east of Torran. There is also another on Lewis, four miles east of Carloway (see this CANMORE page).

The Ishlibhig site has a great view north over Loch na Faoirbh, and beyond it you can see the Hamanavay track winding its way across the moorland. See the February 17, 2015 post for a description of walking the Hamanavay track.

Looking north - Hamanavay track in the middle distance

Loch Druim Grunavat, the St Kilda visitors centre site, and the Flannans seen from the walk to the one night shieling

For more (but not much) on the Ishlibhig one night shieling see this CANMORE page. Next time I am on Lewis I think I'll camp (for one night, anyway) at Airidh na h-aon Oidche. And if I hear any strange noises in the night, it'll be a short scamper back to the safety of the car.