Orkney Scotland

Date: [unknown] [unknown]
Location: Orkney Scotland
Surnames/tags: orkney_islands vikings

Brief History

Orkney is well known for its long and fascinating history and its breathtaking views.

The islands history can be traced back some 9000 years. There are standing stones, standing stone circles and stone age burial graves scattered all over the islands of Orkney that speak to the long and ancient history.

There are a number of words and names that are part of Scottish history that originate in from Orkney.

Skara Brae is one. This is a series of neolithic homes dating back to 2500 BCE. This is the 25th century BCE.

Scapa Flow is another. This name is much more recent. It dates back to both the 1st and 2nd world wars in the 20th century.

The Ring of Brogdar rivals Stonehenge as a Stone Circle.

If you want to get a time capsule of Orkney history, why not watch the below video on youtube. It's just 10 minutes long. If you can get past the broad Orkney accent, it has 10,000 years of history to show you.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8Vof457rug

History Links for Research

[Orkneyjar]

[History of Orkney] on Wikipedia

Genealogical Links

[1821 census] for South Ronaldsay and surrounding Islands only.

[Cursiter] Website for parish records of most Names in the Orkneys - This was originally begun as a collection of records for Cursitor names and their variants - but has since expanded to a much wider collection of Names.

[Orkney Family History Society]