Torrin

The population peaked in the 19th century at around 120 people, dropping to 40 in 1989 and more recently rising to 65, over a third of whom speak Scottish Gaelic. The small Torrin church closed in the 1970s, fell into disrepair, and is now a holiday home. At Cill Chriosd (Christ's Church or "Kilchrist"), halfway to Broadford, are the stark remains of the parish church of Strathaird, including the cleared villages of Boreraig and Susinish. The location is thought to have been a site of Christian worship dating back to the 7th century, when St Maelrubha preached from nearby Cnoc na-Aifhreann ("Hill of the Mass"). The present ruins probably replaced the first medieval stone church in the 16th…