Definitely inhabited . . . .
There is a hotel there . . .
http://www.isleofraasayhotel.co.uk/You can rent a cottage
http://www.unique-cottages.co.uk/guide/skye_and_the_western_isles/skye/isle_of_raasay/Manchester University has a field operation there
http://www.seaes.manchester.ac.uk/StudentZone/Fieldwork/IndependentFieldMapping/IndependentMappingAreas/IsleofRaasayScotland/The Isle of Raasay is a small, Gaelic-speaking island in the Inner Hebrides which was also the birthplace of the strictly Calvinist Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland in 1893. It was also the scene of various ravages in Scottish history, including clearances in the mid-19th century, when the populations of entire villages were driven onto ships to Australia.
There is an earlier reference to deportation following the Rebellion of the mid 1770’s but it was not unique to Raasay . . .
After the battle of Culloden the Clan system broke down Highland Chiefs chose to clear there fellow clansmen off their ancestral lands. With the full support of The Police and the Kings army they were evicted off the land their home’s burnt to the ground. The local clergy who were deep into the pockets of the local gentry proclaimed from the Kirk pulpit that the reason for this great calamity was that God was visiting them because of their sins. Those Highlanders who escaped deportation to the new world made their way to the cities like Glasgow were they tried to rebuild their lives. The lucky one’s who were left on the land lived in fear of the Highland Chief because they were left to do his biding.
At the following website is the fhe following extract from a very long exchange on the subject of “social struggle” . . . it may have some bearing on your question.
http://64.233.179.104/search?q=cache:51d4rT9CBKoJ:www.tartans.com/mesgboard/viewtopic.php%3Ft%3D3191%26highlight%3D%26sid%3D90cea46623371f4b45eb086a86c4b064+deportation+from+raasay+1850&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=1. . . . . Beginning in about 1780 and going on as late as 1850, many Scots were "Cleared" with the majority of them being sent overseas to the Colonies. We need to remember that in contrast to the transportation of Jacobite prisoners after the '45, which was engineered mainly by English functionaries, the Clearances were done, in the main, by Scottish Landlords. If Scotland had been independent in those years there probably would not have been a Jacobite Rising, whether or not the Clearances would have occurred I'm not sure. In any case, the Gaelic (Celtic if you prefer) way of life was doomed if Scotland was to continue to move forward. Had their been a King in Edinburgh from, say 1700 to 1850, if would not have made any difference to this. . . . .
