Biography

Chrissie Denny MacDonald was born in Eoligarry in Barra on the 9th of June, 1939. Her parents were Dòmhnall Iain 'ic Ruairidh and Sìne Ruairidh Iain Bhàin, both from Bruernish. Her father was a fisherman and also worked for a while in the Merchant Navy. There were two girls and three boys in the family.

Although her father didn't have a singing voice, he had a great interest in traditional songs, and was good at remembering them. Chrissie's mother was a good singer, and Donald Joseph MacKinnon (An Eòsag [519]), one of Barra's most well-known singers, was her maternal uncle. Ruairidh Iain Bhàin [5295], her grandfather, was an excellent singer and was recorded by John Lorne Campbell and the School of Scottish Studies. Her maternal aunt, Kate Buchanan [736], was also a good singer. Thus, her family was surrounded by music and singing. Chrissie's sister Mary has a good voice, as do her brothers, although they do not perform publicly.

Chrissie went to Eoligarry Primary School and then Inverness High School. It was a chaotic journey for an 11-year-old child, travelling from Barra to Lochboisdale, then on to Mallaig by ferry, train to Fort William, and then bus to Inverness. She left school after the third year and worked for nearly two years with other girls from Barra in a private girls' school, St. Hilda's, in Balfron. After that, she worked for a while in the E.N.T. Hospital in Glasgow before moving to Uist to help her brother John, a dentist in Lochboisdale. As a young woman, she started nursing training at Stobhill Hospital in Glasgow but left after a year as she did not like the area she was in. She was determined to finish her training, however, and went to Edinburgh to do so.

In her third year of training, she met Donald MacNeil from Tangusdale, Barra, and they married in Glasgow in 1965. Donald was a sailor but got a job at the pulp mill in Fort William by the time they married. They moved to Lochaber but because Belford Hospital did not train nurses, Chrissie never got to finish her course, which she always regretted. After eleven years in Fort William, Donald got a job in the fish factory in Ardveenish. They returned to Barra, made their home in Eoligarry, and had five children – one daughter and four sons.

Chrissie won the Traditional Gold Medal at the Royal National Mòd in Fort William in 1985. Before this competition was established in 1971, Chrissie had won the unpublished song competition at the Stirling Mòd in 1961. She also represented Scotland twice at the Pan-Celtic Festival in Ireland. Chrissie also sang in Eoligarry Church and in St Barr's Church Choir in North Bay.