Eigg ('nick' or'hollow'; the'notched isle') is located five miles south-west of Point of Sleat on Skye and four miles south-east of Rum; and is 6.5 miles long and 4.5 miles wide at most. It is riven in the middle by a glen, which divides the mass of the Sgurr, which rises to a height of 1289 feet, from the rest of the island. Eigg is a fertile place, and once supported a large population.

There are several prehistoric sites on the island, including the fort at an impressive site on An Sgurr and at Rubha na Crannaig, which has also been suggested as the site of St Dorian's monastery. Kildonan is the site of an old church and burial ground, and the saint is said to have been martyred and to be buried on the island.

Eigg was a property of the Clan Ranald branch of the MacDonalds, and in the cave, Uamh Fhraing, 200 souls were suffocated to death in 1577 during a clan fight with the MacLeods. In 1826 the island was sold to Hugh MacPherson, a professor of archaeology, and has gone through several hands until being bought by the local population. Inhabitants now number about 60, who mostly make a living crofting.