 Historically , Skye was overwhelmingly Gaelic @-@ speaking , but this changed between 1921 and 2001 . In both the 1901 and 1921 censuses , all Skye parishes were more than 75 per cent Gaelic @-@ speaking . By 1971 , only Kilmuir parish had more than three quarters Gaelic speakers while the rest of Skye ranged between 50 and 74 per cent . At that time , Kilmuir was the only area outside the Western Isles that had such a high proportion of Gaelic speakers . In the 2001 census Kilmuir had just under half Gaelic speakers , and overall , Skye had 31 per cent , distributed <unk> . The strongest Gaelic areas were in the north and south @-@ west of the island , including <unk> at 61 per cent . The weakest areas were in the west and east ( e.g. <unk> 23 per cent and <unk> 19 per cent ) . Other areas on Skye ranged between 48 per cent and 25 per cent . 
