Scotland · Ruin
Kildonan Castle
Kildonan Castle is a ruined medieval castle on the southern coast of the Isle of Arran, Scotland. Built in the 13th century by the MacDonalds, it stands on coastal cliffs overlooking the island of Pladda and the entrance to the Firth of Clyde. The site was later used as a royal hunting lodge and passed to the Earls of Arran in the 16th century.
Its prime
1400
Today
Ruin
As it stood in 1400
What Kildonan Castle looked like in its prime.
A tall rectangular stone keep rising directly from a grassy coastal scarp, attached to a lower, curved section of curtain wall now largely covered in dense ivy; walls of roughly coursed grey-brown rubble with irregular stone faces; small square and narrow slit window openings visible high in the surviving tower; no intact roofs in the present photo, but at its prime the tower would have had a continuous roofline and parapet; the castle sits on cliffs with the sea and the island of Pladda visible seaward.
Its story
The story of Kildonan Castle.
Kildonan Castle stands on the cliffs of Arran's southern coast, overlooking the island of Pladda and the entrance to the Firth of Clyde, which it was built to defend. It was raised in the 13th century by the MacDonalds, Lords of the Isles, and takes its name from Saint Donan, a former resident said to be buried on the island.
When Arran belonged to the crown, the castle served as a hunting lodge for the Kings of Scotland, Robert III among them. In 1544 it became the property of the Earls of Arran, and it stands today as a ruin.
Step inside
5 places to explore in 1400.
The record describes 5 distinct spots at Kildonan Castle, including 1 interior: interior of the surviving tower (interior). 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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Recreate Kildonan Castle with AI to explore it.
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Clans who held Kildonan Castle.
The families that held Kildonan Castle for a decade or more across its history, follow a name to its clan.
Built in the 13th century by the MacDonalds, Lords of the Isles.
From the archive
Kildonan Castle on paper: the measured plan and period views.
The survey plan and photographs below are the ground truth this page's reconstructions are checked against, drawn and photographed while the castle was still a working garrison. Every image is public-domain or openly licensed, with its source named.
Fig. 75.—Kildonan Castle.
1889 · MacGibbon & Ross, vol. 3 (1889)
Public domain
Fig. 76. — Kildonan Castle. Plans and Section.
1889 · MacGibbon & Ross, vol. 3 (1889)
Public domain
Fig. 76. — Kildonan Castle. Plans and Section.
1889 · MacGibbon & Ross, vol. 3 (1889)
Public domain
