HISTORY OF SUISNISH HOUSE

Suisnish House is believed to date back to the mid 1800s.  Originally having been part of the Raasay Estate, it is understood that it was the farmhouse of Royston MacKenzie who was a tenant sheep farmer from about 1854.

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Over time the house has been extended, with servants’ quarters being added to the rear around 1892.

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It was also used in the early twentieth century as the mine manager's house until about the second world war. The mine was situated to the rear the property. 

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The property was purchased along with a lot of other property on the island by John Green, a doctor from Sussex in the 1960's but fell in to disrepair.

It was then purchased by a local family in the mid-1970's who renovated the property. They used it as a family home and then more latterly as a holiday home. 

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The house was originally called Suidhisnis House and then Suishinish House. According to Iain Mac an Tailleir (2003) which shows the derivation of Gaelic place names the word Suidhisnis is derived from Norse where it means "seething headland". Others have said the translation is more like "fertile ground".