Achanduin Castle

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Achanduin Castle ruins 2005

Achanduin Castle , also Achadun Castle or Acha-Dun , is a ruined castle about 5 km west of the village of Achnacroish on the northwest coast of the island of Lismore in the Scottish administrative unit Argyll and Bute . The ruins lie over Loch Linnhe and the island of Bernera . The ruins are said to date from the 13th century. It has long been thought that the Bishop of Argyll had Achanduin Castle built, but recent research has shown that this is unlikely. The castle was probably built by the MacDougall clan around 1290, who held it for the entire 14th century. It is also thought that the bishops of Argyll held Achanduin Castle until the mid-16th century.

Description of the ruins

The remains of the castle lie on the ridge of a chain of limestone hills on the northwest coast of Lismore. The walls in the southwest and southeast have collapsed, but the northeast wall and a large part of the northwest wall are still up to 6.7 meters high. This curtain wall varies in thickness from 1.4 to 2.4 meters and originally included an area of ​​22 meters × 22 meters. In this enclosed area there were at least two lines of buildings on both sides of a small courtyard, with the southeast line being the larger. During the on-site excavations in 1970 and 1971, two gateways from the courtyard to the northwest building line were found.

history

Throughout the 13th century, the Diocese of Argyll and Lake Lismore were really poor. The Bishop of Argyll was once thought to be the builder of Achanduin Castle, but recent research shows that neither the lake nor the bishop was rich enough to build a castle. Rather, these investigations point to the MacDougalls as builders.

Excavations show that Achanduin Castle was built around 1290, at a time when the Bishop of Argyll, Laurence de Erganis , may have been a MacDougall himself. The first deed to mention the castle is a deed from 1304 in Achichendone when Eugenil de Ergadia , Lord of Lorn, of Menderaloch and Lesmor lent lands near the castle to Andrew, Bishop of Argyll . This fief deed shows that Achanduin Castle was then in the hands of the MacDougalls.

The MacDougalls lost most of their lands to the Crown in 1308 after the Battle of Brander Pass and the loss of their Dunstaffnage Castle . Lismore is nowhere mentioned in the records of her newly distributed possessions. Hence, it is possible that the MacDougalls were allowed to keep the island.

Archaeological finds suggest that from 1400 to the relatively recent times the castle was not frequently inhabited.

1451 received John Maol ("John Alani de Lorn nominato Mak Dowil") Dunolly and other lands from John Stewart , Lord of Lorn to fief. It is thought that the MacDougalls left Lismore around this time and built Dunollie Castle on the mainland . By 1452 the Bishop of Argyll appears to have taken possession of Archanduin Castle and held it for a short time. It is thought that the castle was handed over to the episcopal see earlier, although this was of little use. The evidence at least shows that the Bishop of Argyll did not visit Lismore often.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g Lismore, Achadun Castle . RCAHMS. Retrieved January 20, 2017.
  2. ↑ a b c Achadun Castle . Gazetteer for Scotland. Retrieved January 20, 2017.
  3. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Dennis Turner: The Bishops of Argyll and the Castle of Achanduin, Lismore, AD 1180-1343 (PDF) In: Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland . Pp. 645-652. 1998. Retrieved July 26, 2009.

Coordinates: 56 ° 29 ′ 39.1 ″  N , 5 ° 34 ′ 7 ″  W.