Eyebroughy
island in East Lothian, Scotland, UK
Eyebroughy (or archaically Ibris; NT493859) is a small, rocky islet in the Firth of Forth, 200 m off East Lothian, Scotland.
Location
Eyebroughy sits 200 metres (220 yd) off the East Lothian coast, 3.5 kilometres (2.2 miles) to the north northeast of the village of Gullane and 5 kilometres (3.1 miles) west of North Berwick. It is in the parish of Dirleton and sits opposite the western part of Dirleton's East Links, at low tide it may be possible to walk to the island. It formed part of the estate of Archerfield.
Environment
It is an RSPB reserve, and the birds breeding on the island include common eider, great cormorant and herring gull, wintering birds include ruddy turnstone and purple sandpiper. The island is formed from an intrusion of trachytes from the lower Carboniferous. Eyebroughy is part of the Firth of Forth Islands Species Protection Area. It has been described as small and very narrow.
Shipwrecks
Two shipwrecks are noted for Eybroughy. The first was the 94-ton wooden schooner Jane which was stranded on Eyebroughy, with a cargo of alum and a single passenger on its way from Goole to Leith, on 18 December 1892.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Eyebroughy” is island in East Lothian, Scotland, UK. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Eyebroughy, island and East, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “island in East Lothian, Scotland, UK” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 9, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q3062756. The first chronological checks are 1892.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Eyebroughy”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Eyebroughy primary sources, Eyebroughy archive and Eyebroughy research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Eyebroughy”?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Eyebroughy” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.