Incredible pictures revealing the life of women on Tiree over the last 100 years uncovered

Incredible pictures revealing the life of the women on the island of Tiree over the last 100 years will go on show for the first time.

The images will be screened at the island’s Sea Change film festival, Scotland’s only annual celebration of women and film, later this month.

Their stories have been taken from the archives at the historical centre, An Iodhlann, where they have lay for decades.

Carefully curated from the centre’s archive by founder and former GP, Dr John Holliday, the images will highlight the different roles played by women in Tiree life and will be shown before screenings of each film.

Crofter Isabella MacLean was photographed with her cows in Kilmoluaig in the early 1940s by George Holleyman, an archaeologist in the RAF police posted to Tiree during World War II. 

Her father was a crofter and fisherman, known locally as The Mate, and Isabella herself was known as Bella Mhate.

She lived on her own in a thatched cottage on her 18 acre croft in Kilmoluaig, where she made a living from her six cattles and flock of 40 sheep. 

She also had grazing rights on another croft. Neither croft was cultivated but she grew a small patch of potatoes and she was also an expert cheese maker.

The cottage had an earthen floor and all her furniture, including her box bed, was made from driftwood. 

One black and white picture shows Catherine MacKenzie (nee MacFarlane of Baugh Manse) sitting at the shore in around 1885. Catherine was the daughter of Rev Duncan MacFarlane, Baptist minister at Baugh. 

Catherine MacKenzie.

She married Duncan MacKenzie of Inverary, but left him around 1904 and returned to live with her parents at Baugh Manse, where she remained until her death. One of her sons, Kenneth MacKenzie, became Chief Officer aboard the Discovery.

Another shows a woman sitting outside her house at Milton, with a tame monkey on her lap in around 1930. Merchant seamen would sometimes bring home pet monkeys from their voyages.

A woman sits with a tame monkey on her lap in around 1930.

The wedding of Annie MacPhee nee MacKinnon in New Zealand, in the 1940s, is also caught on camera. Her mother Mary Flora MacKinnon nee Campbell from Balephuil is pictured standing beside her.

The wedding of Annie MacPhee nee MacKinnon in New Zealand.

Another striking picture shows three women from the Tiree RAF theatre groups The Reef Player and The Tireans during a performance in WWII, probably 1945.

The Tiree RAF theatre groups The Reef Player and The Tireans during a performance in WWII.

Mary MacKinnon (nee McKenzie), Barrapol, and her two daughters Christina MacKinnon and Phemie MacKinnon, were photographed having a picnic in 1930. They owned Morven House, later Drovers Cottage.

Mary MacKinnon (nee McKenzie), Barrapol, and her two daughters Christina MacKinnon and Phemie MacKinnon.

One picture shows Highland dancers at the Tiree Agricultural Show in the 1970s, while in another, owner of The Glassary restaurant in Sandaig, Mabel MacArthur, and waitress Jeanette Straker are seen at the eatery’s opening in 1984.

Highland dancers at the Tiree Agricultural Show.

The opening of The Glassary restaurant.

The Sea Change Festival will take place on 20-22 September.

‘I am so excited for this year’s festival. It is important for us to host an event like Sea Change on Tiree as it shows the vibrancy of island culture and that the idea of remote depends on your geographical perspective,’ Artistic Director Jen Skinner says.

‘Bringing people to Tiree, into a small island setting, creates an intimacy, which is coupled with the opportunity to enjoy our big skies and white sand beaches.

‘Our local community is at the heart of what we do, we want to share films that they might not have seen and bring opportunities to Tiree, especially for young people, this is a big part of what Screen Argyll does.

‘We open this year’s festival with one of my favourite films from 2023, it sets the tone for the weekend, celebrating brilliant women, human connections and sharing stories. I am delighted to welcome Jeanie Finlay to Tiree, as a filmmaker she brings intimate portraits to the big screen with warmth and humour.

‘We close with Out Loud a documentary from Maureen MacLeod which follows Scottish singer Kim Carnie’s journey after being in a secret same sex relationship for 6 years and we are so delighted that Kim and her band will be here to play the festival out in style.

‘We will have our daily swims and beach walks and a chance to learn some ceilidh dances.

‘This year’s festival focuses on stories of humanity and community, it has a big heart.

‘We are all about bringing communities together through film, I can’t wait to share cinema, connections and Tiree with audiences this year. ‘

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