~ This can be a high muggle area, especially in the Summer, so stealth is required ~
Dunstaffnage Castle is one of the oldest stone castles was built around 1220 by Duncan MacDougall, son of Dubhgall, Lord of Lorn & grandson of the infamous Somerled, King of the Isles. It sits above a platform of rock on a headland at the south-west of the entrance to Loch Etive, and being surrounded on three sides by the sea, it guards the seaward approach from the Firth of Lorn to the Pass of Brander & is a strategic defence to the heart of Scotland.
Through the centuries the Castle has seen much warfare. Duncan’s own brother, Uspak, with the Norwegian troops, unsuccessfully attacked him and was later to die in an attack on Rothesay Castle with Norse forces in the 1230s. Uspak (Óspakr Ögmundsson in Norweigan) is buried on the Isle of Iona.
Duncan also founded Ardchattan Priory, which was a Valliscaulian monastic community, 6 miles east of Dunstaffnage and well worth a visit. His son Eóghan MacDubhghaill (Ewen MacDougall) inherited the title Lord of Lorn in the 1240s. He was appointed King of the Isles by King Haakon IV of Norway who still retained control of the Hebrides. In 1249 King Alexander II of Scotland launched an expedition against Eóghan after he refused to renounce his loyalty to King Haakon IV of Norway. Eóghan tried to obtain rulership of the Isle of Man in 1250, but was expelled by the inhabitants, but in 1255, King Henry III of England acquired a deal for Eóghan and he regained Lorne and came into full Scottish allegiance. After King Alexander III's defeated of Haakon IV of Norway, Ewen's son Alexander was made the first sheriff of Argyll in 1293. However, during the Wars of Scottish Independence which broke out a few years later, King Robert Bruce defeated the Clan MacDougall at the Battle of the Pass of Brander at Loch Awe in 1308 or 1309, and after a brief siege, took control of Dunstaffnage Castle.
Dunstaffnage remained in the control of the Scottish monarchy until 1470 when King James III, bestowed Dunstaffnage upon Colin Campbell, 1st Earl of Argyll. The Earls of Argyll appointed Captains to oversee Dunstaffnage and to this day though the
King James IV visited Dunstaffnage on two occasions and Flora MacDonald, who helped Bonnie Prince Charlie to escape from Scotland, was briefly imprisoned here in 1746 whilst being escorted to London for imprisonment.
Rumour has it that the Stone of Destiny (used in the ceremony to crown the monarchs of Scotland) was kept here, in a stronghold prior to the MacDougall fortification, after being brought from Ireland, and before it was moved to Scone Palace in 843.
The castle is said to be haunted by the "Ell-maid of Dunstaffnage” and her appearances are said to be associated with events in the lives of the hereditary keepers, the Captains of Dunstaffnage.