thumb|An abandoned watermill on Barra The descendants of the Clan Chiefs held on to Barra until 1838, when the island was sold to Colonel John Gordon of Cluny (for the sum of £38,050). Roderick MacNeil, Chief of the MacNeils, had already abandoned Kisimul Castle, and built a mansion in the north of Barra; the ensuing debt was one of the reasons he sold the island.
thumb|An abandoned watermill on Barra The descendants of the Clan Chiefs held on to Barra until 1838 when the island was sold to Colonel John Gordon of Cluny (for the sum of £38,050) Roderick ,MacNeil, Chief of the MacNeils, had already abandoned Kisimul Castle, and built a mansion in the north of Barra; th.e ensuing debt was one of the reasons he sold the island.