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Monday 9am - 5pm Tuesday 9am - 5pm Wednesday 9am - 5pm Thursday 9am - 5pm Friday 9am - 5pm

Acair Books

Award-winning publisher

Books for all ages in Gaelic & English

www.acairbooks.com We also publish books in English, bilingual and Scots and ship worldwide.

Acair was established in 1977 to provide Gaelic language materials for the groundbreaking bilingual education project in the Western Isles. Over 40 years later and we are one of the biggest publishers of Gaelic language books from children's, fiction, educational to historical, we have published a huge variety of books. Le taic bho Bhòrd na Gàidhlig.

18/06/2026

Tha na h-òrain a tha anns an leabhar seo air an taghadh bho òrain a chaidh a sgrìobhadh a dh’ aon ghnothaich don t-sreath phrògraman Dòtaman.

17/06/2026

Fàilte chun na h-Antartaig, far a bheil luchd-rannsachaidh èasgaidh a’ toirt sùil gheur air cinn-fhionna,

Cinn-fhionna. Cinn-fhionna. Cinn-fhionna. Uimhir de chinn-fhionna….

Ach tha aon neach-rannsachaidh òg air rud eadar-dhealaichte fhoghlaim. Rudeigin gu tur neo-àbhaisteach, da-rìreabh iongantach agus a tha air…..A DHOL À BITH.

An creid duine sam bith e? An creideadh TUSA?!

16/06/2026

The renowned Scottish ornithologist, William MacGillivray, walked from Aberdeen to London to visit the British Museum in 1819. His diary, kept during that walk will be of interest to all nature lovers and social historians.

15/06/2026

This is the most comprehensive and wide-ranging account ever written of the Harris Tweed industry. It makes an important contribution to the social and economic history of the Islands and shows the struggle which the people of the Outer Hebrides had, to retain the commercial value of the name, ‘Harris Tweed’. Meticulously researched, intricate, and changing circumstances in the history of the industry are made immensely readable. Bitter and divisive controversies are described with supporting evidence and analysis but leaving readers to draw their own conclusions.

Now updated to include the years between 1995 and 2023, the book will be of great interest locally, nationally, and internationally as Harris Tweed continues to assert its unique status as a globally iconic textile brand.

12/06/2026

This unique publication is an account by John Wilson, who was an inspector of schools during the latter half of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth, of his experiences during that time as he inspected schools in the Highlands and Islands, including Jura, Islay, Orkney, Argyll, Heisker and Iona. An excellent read for those interested in social conditions of the time and in early education in the Highlands and Islands following the 1872 Education Act.

11/06/2026

Reflecting the diverse and varied households that children the world over live in, Sophy Henn’s brightly illustrated book demonstrates that the animal kingdom have a multitude of family set-ups also. A life-affirming hymn to inclusion and love, All Kinds of Families is the perfect way to teach young children about domestic difference.

10/06/2026

Donald Macleod, who is a professor at the Free Church College in Edinburgh, looks at the past and present. Written in the form of an exchange of letters between the author and a friend’s daughter, it will captivate all those who came to maturity in the Sixties, and act as a reminder of links between that time and the present, as well as recalling earlier characters and events familiar to many.

09/06/2026

⭐ Liosta Ghoirid aig Duais Leabhar na Gàidhealtachd 2025 ⭐

A selection of the Gaelic prose writings of Prof Derick Thomson (1921 – 2012). As well as being one of the most important Gaelic poets of the 20th century, Thomson, as the publisher and editor of the quarterly ‘Gairm’, shaped the development of Gaelic writing in the post-war period.

08/06/2026

Nàdar de smachd. De dh’iongantas. De mhìorbhail. ‘S e leabhar bàrdachd a tha seo a tha a’ putadh air crìochan ‘òrdugh nàdarra chùisean’, agus a’ sgrùdadh mar a bhios sinn a’ cur an cèill eòlais, cumhachd, cuimhne agus fealla-dhà ann am faclan a tha tìmeil agus sgeunach, faclan a tha a’ teicheadh o smachd duine sam bith. ‘S dòcha gur e leabhar poileatagach a th’ann, ach teans gu bheil e ro aosta mu thrath; ‘s dòcha gur e nàdar de rabhadh a th’ann, ach ‘s beag a tha dh’fhios air dè.

02/06/2026

The work of one of the great unsung heroines of Scottish Gaelic song – Frances Tolmie – is celebrated in a new, expanded edition of her seminal collection of songs which has influenced generations of singers from the early 20th century right up to the present day. Championed by one of the contemporary Gaelic world’s leading tradition bearers, singer Kenna Campbell and one of her former students, Ainsley Hamill, Gun Sireadh, Gun Iarraidh (Without Seeking, Without Asking) promises to open Tolmie’s songs and life’s work up to new audiences in this edition, which re-unites songs, lyrics and background, and which returns Frances Tolmie to rightful prominence.

Tolmie was born in the Isle of Skye, to a family associated with the MacLeod chiefs of Dunvegan. She was brought up as part of her uncle’s family following the death of her father, and through them encountered a wide range of literary and cultural figures from across the UK, becoming one of the first women to attend Newnham College at Cambridge University.

Her collection of Gaelic songs was gathered over a lifetime in Gaelic-speaking communities where songs were the life-breath of daily work and play. A core selection was published in London by the English Folk-song Society (now the EFDSS, based at Cecil Sharp House) with the help of English folksong collector Lucy Broadwood, but the songs appeared mostly in translated form, making the collection a tantalising but frustrating introduction to a whole world of Gaelic song, from dance music and children’s playthings to the great classical repertoire of the professional poets and medieval Celtic and Arthurian legend.

Gun Sireadh, Gun Iarraidh is a labour of love over many years for Kenna and Ainsley, who met at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, where Kenna – as principal lecturer in Gaelic Song – used the original collection as a source for all her singing students, including Ainsley.

Address

An Tosgan, 54 Seaforth Road
Stornoway
HS12SD

Opening Hours

Monday	9am - 5pm
Tuesday	9am - 5pm
Wednesday	9am - 5pm
Thursday	9am - 5pm
Friday	9am - 5pm

Telephone

+441851703020

Website

http://www.acairbooks.com/

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