The name Taransay is taken from the Old Norse for Taran's island. The majority of island names in the Western Isles end in "ay" which means island (oy) in Norse and illustrates the fact that the Western Isles were under Norwegian rule in the 9th century.
The Taran who lends his name to the island is an uncertain figure in the islands history. There are two schools of thought as to who Taran was and how he came to lend his name to the island of Taransay. According to St Adomnan of Iona he was the son of a Noble Pictish family who requested St Columba's assistance. Columba agreed and enlisted the help of Feradach an Islay man of some stature to take him in and look after him. Rather than do the bidding of Columba, Feradach chose to have Taran murdered, this upset Columba who then in turn punished Feradach for his sin.
The other theory which may be more plausible is that Taran was in fact the Irish Saint Ternan or Torannan (known as the bishop of the Picts) who held great influence on the Pictish mainland. This theory gains credibility due to the dedication of one of the chapels on Taransay to the aforementioned Saint.
The sites of the two ancient chapels are both at Paible (village & Landing Area) one as mentioned before is dedicated to St Taran where only women were buried and the other to St Keith where only men were buried.
Photograph copyright JJ Waller
View of North Harris from Taransay
