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Eilean Donan Castle
Returning to the castle, it is named after the island it stands on, Eilean Donan, the island of Donan. In the 6th century, Bishop Donan, later Saint Donan, came from Ireland to Scotland. Either he, or his followers, formed a small cell on the island. There is no longer any evidence of the cell, but a number of churches in the area are dedicated to the saint. The same Donan was killed, along with around fifty of his followers, in his church on Eigg on Easter Sunday in 618. The castle itself has had as turbulent time as the saint. There has been a castle on Eilean Donan since around 1260 although there is evidence that the island was fortified before then, at least remains of an Iron Age fort could be seen in the 1920s. With its position at the point where the three lochs meet would certainly have been seen as a good point to defend the area. The original 13th century castle was much larger than the present day version and, judging by the foundations that are still visible, took up most of the island, about 3,000 square metres. A tower or keep occupied the highest point of the island. Robert the Bruce is said to have sheltered at the castle in the early 14th century. Some time around the 15th century, the area covered by Eilean Donan Castle was greatly reduced to fewer than 530 square metres. The reason for this is unclear, but is possibly related to the size of the garrison that was required to defend the castle. The tower at this point had four levels and included a walkway around the roof. Then, in the 16th century, an extension to the east wall was added with a bastion included that had a firing platform for new cannons. This also created a new entrance to the castle with a long passage to the main courtyard. This was the layout of the castle that was surveyed in 1714 although, at that time, it had fallen into disrepair. Within another five years the castle would be destroyed! In 1719, Spanish soldiers, who supported the Jacobite cause to have the Stuart’s restored to the throne of Britain, garrisoned Eilean Donan Castle and set up a powder magazine to the rear of the building. In May that year, three government frigates were ordered to sail into Loch Duich. Two of the frigates, the 48-gun Worcester and the 44-gun Enterprise, bombarded the castle as they passed. Afterwards the captain of the Enterprise went ashore to accept the surrender of the Spaniards and blow up what remained of their arsenal, including over 340 barrels of gunpowder! This left Eilean Donan Castle in ruins and it would remain that way for almost 200 years! In 1911, Major John MacRae-Gilstrap bought the remains of the castle and, along with Farquar MacRae, rebuilt it between 1912 and 1932. This building work was largely to the ground plan of what remained of the castle that was destroyed in 1719, but a story about the castle being rebuilt to a vision seen by Farquar in a dream also circulated at the time! The plans from the survey in 1714 were found before the reconstruction was completed so had little bearing on the end result. However, those plans supposedly showed the vision to be accurate. Whatever the truth in this, the fact remains that the dream of MacRae-Gilstrap was fulfilled – Eilean Donan Castle stood proud on its island once more! While the castle looks like the version that was destroyed in 1719, there are some subtle differences. Part of this is due to the purpose of the castle at different times. The three earlier versions of the castle that stood on Eilean Donan were all built with defence in mind. The walls of the present structure include passages, closets and stairs built into them that did not exist before. Also, more windows have also been included in the new building. However, as the castle today has not been built for defence in the same way as the old versions so the thickness of the walls and addition of windows is not a problem. The addition of a bridge allows easier access, for a small fee, to the island and the castle that stands upon it. The castle is open from 10am to 5.30pm every day from 1 April until 31 October. Tickets are available from the gift shop, which is open all year, and there is also a visitor centre that is open until 5pm during the months the castle is open. The entrance to the gift shop and visitor centre is opposite the bridge. Further information on the castle can be found on the following page, which gives information on the castle layout, as well as the official website. |
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Eilean
Donan Castle has to be the most photographed castle in Scotland, if not the
whole of the United Kingdom. No doubt it would appear high on a list of most
photographed castles in the world. More people have probably seen this castle
without even knowing what it is called or where it is. Some may even be forgiven
for thinking it is somewhere it’s not. The reason for some of this confusion
probably stems from the films that the castle has appeared in. First of all
there is Highlander (1986), where the castle was part of the main
character’s hometown of Glenfinnan on the banks of Loch Shiel. Secondly there
was Loch Ness (1996) which implied that the castle was on the
banks of that loch with the monster in a cave underneath.
The
castle actually stands on a small island at the point where Lochs Duich, Alsh
and Long meet, just off the A87 near Dornie in the
Lochalsh district of the Scottish Highlands. The A87 itself runs from Invergarry in the east, near Loch
Oich in the
Great Glen, to Kyle of Lochalsh and then onto
Skye via the
controversial bridge!
