Dunaverty Castle
Encyclopedia
Dunaverty Castle is located at Southend at the southern end of the Kintyre
peninsula in western Scotland
. The site was once a fort belonging to the Clan Donald
(MacDonald). Little remains of the castle, although the site is protected as a scheduled monument.
, Scotland
. The headland it was built on forms a natural stronghold with the sea on three sides and is only approachable from the north. It is attached to the mainland only by a narrow path. It is known that the castle itself was accessed by a drawbridge.
allowed Walter Bissett to buy stores from Ireland
for Dunaverty Castle which he had seized and was fortifying, apparently in revenge for hospitality given by King Alexander II of Scotland
to certain English pirates. However during that same year the castle was taken by Allan, the son of the Earl of Atholl
and Bissett was taken prisoner.
In 1263 Dunaverty Castle was garrisoned by King Alexander III of Scotland
during the Norse invasion by King Haakon IV of Norway
. The castle was eventually surrendered to the Norwegian King. Eventually Haakon gave the castle to Dugald MacRuairi, who was a steadfast supporter of his in the Hebrides. The castle is believed to have soon become property of Alexander MacDonald of Islay
.
, also known as Robert the Bruce, escaped his enemies by sailing down the Firth of Clyde
until he reached safety at Dunaverty Castle. There he spent several days hospitably entertained by Angus Og of Islay
. The King of Scotland however soon needed to flee to Rathlin Island
off the coast of Ireland in order to escape the pursuing English fleet. On the 22nd of September 1306 the English King ordered the employment of miners, crossbowmen and masons in the siege of Dunaverty Castle which was soon surrendered.
forfeited his title to King James IV of Scotland
. By 1494 the King had garrisoned and provisioned Dunaverty Castle. It is said that the MacDonalds. led by Sir John MacDonald who the king had recently knighted, retook the castle before the King had even departed to Stirling
and that the dead body of the King's castle governor was hung over the castle walls in sight of the King and his departing entourage. Sir John Macdonald however was later captured by MacIain of Ardnamurchan
. He was tried and hung on the Burgh Muir
near Edinburgh.
of North and South Kintyre, including the castle. The castle was attacked by the Earl of Surrey
in 1588 but no damage was done.
was reconstituted in favour of the Earl of Argyll
and Dunaverty Castle was denoted as its principal messuage
. Argyll bestowed the Lordship of Kintyre on James, his eldest son by his second marriage, who, in 1635, at Dunaverty, granted a charter of the Lordship to Viscount Dunluce, eldest son of Randal MacDonnell, 1st Earl of Antrim
. The transfer was set aside by the Scottish Privy Council, no doubt on a complaint by Argyll's eldest son, the Marquis of Lorn
, who had bitterly resented his father's bestowal of the Lordship on his younger half-brother. On 12 December 1636, Lorn received a charter, under the Great Seal, of the Lordship of Kintyre, with the Castle of Dunaverty as its principal messuage.
During the Civil War Dunaverty was besieged in 1647 by Scottish supporters of Oliver Cromwell
who were led by General David Leslie (Leslie later became a Royalist
). The MacDonalds surrendered and then 300 of them were massacred. This incident became known as the Battle of Dunaverty
, or "Dunaverty Massacre.
The castle is nothing more than a ruin now, known as Blood Rock.
Kintyre
Kintyre is a peninsula in western Scotland, in the southwest of Argyll and Bute. The region stretches approximately 30 miles , from the Mull of Kintyre in the south, to East Loch Tarbert in the north...
peninsula in western Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. The site was once a fort belonging to the Clan Donald
Clan Donald
Clan Donald is one of the largest Scottish clans. There are numerous branches to the clan. Several of these have chiefs recognised by the Lord Lyon King of Arms; these are: Clan Macdonald of Sleat, Clan Macdonald of Clanranald, Clan MacDonell of Glengarry, Clan MacDonald of Keppoch, and Clan...
(MacDonald). Little remains of the castle, although the site is protected as a scheduled monument.
History
The remains of Dunaverty Castle stand on a rocky head land on the south east corner of KintyreKintyre
Kintyre is a peninsula in western Scotland, in the southwest of Argyll and Bute. The region stretches approximately 30 miles , from the Mull of Kintyre in the south, to East Loch Tarbert in the north...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. The headland it was built on forms a natural stronghold with the sea on three sides and is only approachable from the north. It is attached to the mainland only by a narrow path. It is known that the castle itself was accessed by a drawbridge.
13th Century
In 1248 King Henry III of EnglandHenry III of England
Henry III was the son and successor of John as King of England, reigning for 56 years from 1216 until his death. His contemporaries knew him as Henry of Winchester. He was the first child king in England since the reign of Æthelred the Unready...
allowed Walter Bissett to buy stores from Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
for Dunaverty Castle which he had seized and was fortifying, apparently in revenge for hospitality given by King Alexander II of Scotland
Alexander II of Scotland
Alexander II was King of Scots from1214 to his death.-Early life:...
to certain English pirates. However during that same year the castle was taken by Allan, the son of the Earl of Atholl
Earl of Atholl
The Mormaer of Earl of Atholl refers to a medieval comital lordship straddling the highland province of Atholl , now in northern Perthshire. Atholl is a special Mormaerdom, because a King of Atholl is reported from the Pictish period. The only other two Pictish kingdoms to be known from...
and Bissett was taken prisoner.
In 1263 Dunaverty Castle was garrisoned by King Alexander III of Scotland
Alexander III of Scotland
Alexander III was King of Scots from 1249 to his death.-Life:...
during the Norse invasion by King Haakon IV of Norway
Haakon IV of Norway
Haakon Haakonarson , also called Haakon the Old, was king of Norway from 1217 to 1263. Under his rule, medieval Norway reached its peak....
. The castle was eventually surrendered to the Norwegian King. Eventually Haakon gave the castle to Dugald MacRuairi, who was a steadfast supporter of his in the Hebrides. The castle is believed to have soon become property of Alexander MacDonald of Islay
Alexander of Islay, Earl of Ross
Alexander of Islay or Alexander MacDonald was a medieval Scottish nobleman, who succeeded his father Domhnall of Islay as Lord of the Isles and rose to the rank of Earl of Ross...
.
14th century
It is believed that King Robert I of ScotlandRobert I of Scotland
Robert I , popularly known as Robert the Bruce , was King of Scots from March 25, 1306, until his death in 1329.His paternal ancestors were of Scoto-Norman heritage , and...
, also known as Robert the Bruce, escaped his enemies by sailing down the Firth of Clyde
Firth of Clyde
The Firth of Clyde forms a large area of coastal water, sheltered from the Atlantic Ocean by the Kintyre peninsula which encloses the outer firth in Argyll and Ayrshire, Scotland. The Kilbrannan Sound is a large arm of the Firth of Clyde, separating the Kintyre Peninsula from the Isle of Arran.At...
until he reached safety at Dunaverty Castle. There he spent several days hospitably entertained by Angus Og of Islay
Angus Og of Islay
Aonghas Óg MacDomhnaill was the son of Aonghas Mór MacDomhnaill. As Lord of Islay and chief of Clan Donald, he was a Hebridean nobleman who participated in the Wars of Scottish Independence.-Biography:...
. The King of Scotland however soon needed to flee to Rathlin Island
Rathlin Island
Rathlin Island is an island off the coast of County Antrim, and is the northernmost point of Northern Ireland. Rathlin is the only inhabited offshore island in Northern Ireland, with a rising population of now just over 100 people, and is the most northerly inhabited island off the Irish coast...
off the coast of Ireland in order to escape the pursuing English fleet. On the 22nd of September 1306 the English King ordered the employment of miners, crossbowmen and masons in the siege of Dunaverty Castle which was soon surrendered.
15th Century
In 1493 the fourth and last Lord of the IslesLord of the Isles
The designation Lord of the Isles is today a title of Scottish nobility with historical roots that go back beyond the Kingdom of Scotland. It emerged from a series of hybrid Viking/Gaelic rulers of the west coast and islands of Scotland in the Middle Ages, who wielded sea-power with fleets of...
forfeited his title to King James IV of Scotland
James IV of Scotland
James IV was King of Scots from 11 June 1488 to his death. He is generally regarded as the most successful of the Stewart monarchs of Scotland, but his reign ended with the disastrous defeat at the Battle of Flodden Field, where he became the last monarch from not only Scotland, but also from all...
. By 1494 the King had garrisoned and provisioned Dunaverty Castle. It is said that the MacDonalds. led by Sir John MacDonald who the king had recently knighted, retook the castle before the King had even departed to Stirling
Stirling
Stirling is a city and former ancient burgh in Scotland, and is at the heart of the wider Stirling council area. The city is clustered around a large fortress and medieval old-town beside the River Forth...
and that the dead body of the King's castle governor was hung over the castle walls in sight of the King and his departing entourage. Sir John Macdonald however was later captured by MacIain of Ardnamurchan
Clan MacDonald of Ardnamurchan
The MacDonalds of Ardnamurchan also known as MacIain of Ardnamurchan are a branch of Clan Donald.-Origins of the Clan:The founder of the Macdonalds of Ardnamurchan was Iain Sprangach MacDonald , the third son of Angus Mor MacDonald , 4th chief of the Clan Donald.Iain Sprangach MacDonald was also...
. He was tried and hung on the Burgh Muir
Burgh Muir
The Burgh Muir was an area to the south of Edinburgh city centre upon which much of the southern portion of the city now rests, following expansions of the 18th and 19th centuries...
near Edinburgh.
16th Century
The castle was repaired by the crown between 1539 and 1542. In January 1544, a Commission in Queen Mary's name was given to the Captain, Constable and Keeper of the Castle of Dunaverty, to deliver it with its artillery and ammunition to the Earl of Argyll and in April of that year Argyll received a 12-year tackTacksman
A tacksman was a land-holder of intermediate legal and social status in Scottish Highland society.-Tenant and landlord:...
of North and South Kintyre, including the castle. The castle was attacked by the Earl of Surrey
Earl of Surrey
The Earl of Surrey is a title in the Peerage of England, and has been created five times. It was first created for William de Warenne, a close companion of William the Conqueror...
in 1588 but no damage was done.
17th Century
In 1626, the Lordship of KintyreLord of Kintyre
The Lord of Kintyre is a title in the Peerage of Scotland for Kintyre, Scotland, which was created in 1626. The Mormaerdom or Kingdom of Kintyre was a lordship in High Medieval Scotland.-Mormaers of Kintyre:*Somhairle mac Gillebride...
was reconstituted in favour of the Earl of Argyll
Archibald Campbell, 7th Earl of Argyll
Archibald Campbell, 7th Earl of Argyll , also called "Gillesbuig Grumach", was a Scottish politician and military leader.-Biography:...
and Dunaverty Castle was denoted as its principal messuage
Messuage
In law, the term messuage equates to a dwelling-house and includes outbuildings, orchard, curtilage or court-yard and garden. At one time messuage supposedly had a more extensive meaning than that conveyed by the words house or site, but such distinction no longer survives.A capital messuage is the...
. Argyll bestowed the Lordship of Kintyre on James, his eldest son by his second marriage, who, in 1635, at Dunaverty, granted a charter of the Lordship to Viscount Dunluce, eldest son of Randal MacDonnell, 1st Earl of Antrim
Randal MacDonnell, 1st Earl of Antrim
Randal MacDonnell, 1st Earl of Antrim , having been fostered in the Gaelic manner on the Scottish island of Arran by the Hamiltons, was the 4th son of Sorley Boy MacDonnell, and of Mary, daughter of Conn O'Neill, 1st Earl of Tyrone.He fought at first against the English government, participating...
. The transfer was set aside by the Scottish Privy Council, no doubt on a complaint by Argyll's eldest son, the Marquis of Lorn
Archibald Campbell, 1st Marquess of Argyll
Archibald Campbell, 1st Marquess of Argyll, 8th Earl of Argyll, chief of Clan Campbell, was the de facto head of government in Scotland during most of the conflict known as the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, also known as the British Civil War...
, who had bitterly resented his father's bestowal of the Lordship on his younger half-brother. On 12 December 1636, Lorn received a charter, under the Great Seal, of the Lordship of Kintyre, with the Castle of Dunaverty as its principal messuage.
During the Civil War Dunaverty was besieged in 1647 by Scottish supporters of Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader who overthrew the English monarchy and temporarily turned England into a republican Commonwealth, and served as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland....
who were led by General David Leslie (Leslie later became a Royalist
Cavalier
Cavalier was the name used by Parliamentarians for a Royalist supporter of King Charles I and son Charles II during the English Civil War, the Interregnum, and the Restoration...
). The MacDonalds surrendered and then 300 of them were massacred. This incident became known as the Battle of Dunaverty
Battle of Dunaverty
The Battle of Dunaverty was a battle and siege of Dunaverty Castle, Kintyre, Scotland in 1647. The battle and siege was fought between the Covenanter army under the command of General David Leslie and 200-300 Highland troops under the command of Archibald Og of Sanda.After the Battle of...
, or "Dunaverty Massacre.
The castle is nothing more than a ruin now, known as Blood Rock.
External links
- Southend, Kintyre, Undiscovered Scotland