Staffin Community Trust: Opening of the new Memorial

Staffin Community Trust – Urras An Taobh Sear has been a member of CLS since 2014, so we were delighted to take part in the Festival, as our missions are truly ‘air an aon ràmh’. On Saturday 25th October 2025, we ran three events that celebrated our place, our history, and our language.

We began with the opening of Sùil nam Brà, our Memorial to the Crofters and Cottars of Staffin, at Creag an Fhèilidh – The Kilt Rock. A local piper played, and our founder, Donald MacDonald, welcomed everyone in Gaelic and English before inviting a great-granddaughter of Tormod Choinnich to cut the ‘ribbon of fire’.

Our second event took place at the Columba 1400 Centre with a community lunch and a strong Gaelic cultural programme. This included a Gaelic duet by Mod Gold Medallists Annie Catrìona MacDonald and Ruairidh Gray, personal reflections on crofting life, and contributions exploring Strì an Fhearainn, local history, and the significance of the dùdadh mhòr horn.

We finished the day with a Community Cèilidh and Dance, featuring Gaelic singing from Annie, Ruairidh, and local schoolchildren, along with performances from a young piper and dancer. With Ruairidh as our fear an taighe, the evening brought music, dancing, a strùpag, and a wonderful turnout from people who don’t always attend community events.

One of the real highlights was meeting Anne Fraser (widow of crofting hero Simon Fraser) and her sister, Donna Barden. They were warm, engaged, and completely in the spirit of the day from the moment they arrived. Iain Craig from CLS was a joy to work with, and he filmed the event – something we’re very much looking forward to watching back. We were also lucky to have Janet MacLeod from Staffin as our photographer, giving us a lovely record of the day.