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A clachan ( or clachan ; ; ) is a small settlement or hamlet on the island of Ireland, the Isle of Man and Scotland. The Scots Dialect Dictionary, compiled by Alexander Warrack, 1911, p 85 (reprinted, with an introduction by Betty Kirkpatrick, by Tantallon Books, 1988) Though many were originally kirktowns,MacBain, A. (1911) An Etymological Dictionary of the Gaelic Language Stirling Eneas MacKay, 1982 edition by Gairm today they are often thought of as small lacking a church, post office, or other formal building. It is likely that many date to medieval times or earlier – a cluster of small single-storey cottages of farmers and/or fishermen, invariably found on poorer land. They were often related to the rundale system of farming.
According to David Lloyd, the Great Famine in Ireland (1845–49) caused such disruption to the social system that the clachans there virtually disappeared;D. Lloyd. Irish Times: Temporalities of Modernity, Field Day Books, Dublin, 2008, p. 40-41. many in the Scottish Highlands were victims of the Clearances. In some cases, they have evolved into holiday villages, or one or two houses have taken over, turning smaller houses into agricultural outhouses. Remains can be seen in many upland and coastal areas. Some are clustered in a dip in the landscape, to protect from Atlantic winds, but others stretch haphazardly along main roads.
This should not be confused with the Scottish Gaelic plural of clach which is clachan "stones", a homonym.
In the meaning of "causeway", the most prominent example in Irish is the Giant's Causeway, known in Irish as Clochán an Aifir or Clochán na bhFomhórach.
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