Settlers from Barra Arrive

In the 1700s, a Scottish soldier spotted this area when he was in the British army. His name was Donald “Og” MacNeil and he lived on the Island of Barra in Scotland. This is what he told his family and friends about the Iona area: “Besides the fuel in the forests, water in the ground, and fish in the sea, you will find thee more shelter from the North wind, better and earlier ripening harvests, and good fishing ground.”

Donald “Og” came back to Canada to fight in Louisbourg in 1758 and Quebec City in 1759, where he died. But his words about the Iona area were not forgotten. In 1800, four MacNeils from Barra arrived at Iona. Several years later two of his own sons settled here. They named the narrow strip of water between them and what we now call Grand Narrows the Barra Strait. Today most people in the area can trace their ancestors back to the Isle of Barra.

Donald “Og” was right. The fishing and farming in the area were good. People who settled here did well. By the mid 1800s many communities lined the shores of the Bras d’Or Lakes. In those days, people got most of what they needed from where they lived. There were grain mills, saw mills, tanneries, woolen mills, farms and fishing to provide what people needed. Another thing that made the area prosperous was its location. Because there were no roads, people traveled by water. By being on the Bras d’Or Lakes, you could get to most parts of Cape Breton Island.