Scotland · Ruin
Dunaverty Castle
Dunaverty Castle occupies a steep rocky headland at the southern tip of the Kintyre peninsula in western Scotland. Historically a MacDonald stronghold, the castle is now little more than a ruin and the site is protected as a scheduled monument. The headland is defended by sea cliffs on three sides and was accessible only from the north by a narrow land approach and drawbridge.
Its prime
1542
Today
Ruin
As it stood in 1542
What Dunaverty Castle looked like in its prime.
Perched on a steep rocky headland with sheer cliffs to the sea on three sides, the castle in its prime comprised a compact grey-stone curtain wall that hugged the irregular summit. The landward side narrowed to a stony isthmus and a single fortified gate reached by a timber drawbridge across the approach path. Inside the enclosure an open stone-paved courtyard and a tight cluster of service buildings occupied the summit, the masonry blending with the local dark rock.
Its story
The story of Dunaverty Castle.
Dunaverty Castle occupies a headland at the southern tip of the Kintyre peninsula, a natural stronghold with the sea on three sides, approachable only from the north. The site was a fort of Clan Donald: late in 1306 the embattled Robert the Bruce seems to have fled to the safety of Dunaverty and his friend Aonghus Óg Mac Domhnaill, the Lord of the Isles, though some contemporary sources suggest the castle was already under the king's control.
The castle had changed hands violently before, taken by Allan, son of the Earl of Atholl, with Byset taken prisoner, then surrendered to the Norwegian king, who granted it to Dubhghall mac Ruaidhrí, one of his steadfast supporters in the Hebrides. In 1493 the fourth and last Lord of the Isles forfeited his title to James IV, and in January 1544 a commission in Queen Mary's name ordered the castle, with its artillery and ammunition, delivered to the Earl of Argyll, who received a 12-year tack of North and South Kintyre.
Because of Clan MacDonald's activities in Ireland, the English raided Kintyre and Campbeltown Loch in October 1588: the Earl of Sussex sailed from Dublin in the Mary Willoughby with a small fleet and burnt Saddell, Dunaverty and Machrimore. Little remains of the castle today, though the site is protected as a scheduled monument.
Step inside
8 places to explore in 1542.
The record describes 8 distinct spots at Dunaverty Castle, including 1 interior: summit courtyard. Create your own photoreal reconstruction and explore every one, more scenes means more rooms, more angles, and more of the place to stand in.
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Clans who held Dunaverty Castle.
The families that held Dunaverty Castle for a decade or more across its history, follow a name to its clan.
A fort of Clan Donald, refuge of Robert the Bruce in 1306 under Aonghus Óg Mac Domhnaill, until the last Lord of the Isles forfeited to James IV in 1493.
