Ensay is a currently unpopulated island in the Outer Hebrides

Outer Hebrides

The Outer Hebrides also known as the Western Isles and the Long Island, is an island chain off the west coast of Scotland. The islands are geographically contiguous with Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, one of the 32 unitary council areas of Scotland...

 of Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

. The island lies in the Sound of Harris between the islands of Harris and Berneray

Berneray, North Uist

Berneray is an island and community in the Sound of Harris, Scotland. It is one of fifteen inhabited islands in the Outer Hebrides. It is famed for its rich and colourful history which has attracted much tourism....

. The name originates from the Old Norse

Old Norse

Old Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300....

 for Ewe Island It is nothing to do with the Gaelic for Jesus - "Iosa" - as sometimes stated.

Although the island has had no permanent population since the 1930s, it is still used for summer grazing. The small chapel of Christ Church is maintained and services are held biannually.

The island shows signs of Stone Age

Stone Age

The Stone Age is a broad prehistoric period, lasting about 2.5 million years , during which humans and their predecessor species in the genus Homo, as well as the earlier partly contemporary genera Australopithecus and Paranthropus, widely used exclusively stone as their hard material in the...

 habitation, with a prominent standing stone

Standing stone

Standing stones, orthostats, liths, or more commonly megaliths are solitary stones set vertically in the ground and come in many different varieties....

. Ensay House (Taigh Easaigh) was built in the Edwardian period. This was the home of the Stewart family (of which Ed Stewart

Ed Stewart

Ed Stewart is a radio broadcaster from England. His real name is Edward Mainwaring but he is known by the nickname Ed Stewpot Stewart.-Early life and career:...

 is a descendant); they used to own the island.

The town of Ensay

Ensay, Victoria

Ensay is a small town located between Swifts Creek and Bruthen on the Great Alpine Road in East Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. Ensay is north of the major town of Bairnsdale and east of the state capital Melbourne...

 in Victoria

Victoria (Australia)

Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....

, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

was named after this island by one of the early settlers, a Scotsman named Archibald Macleod.