Castle Coeffin

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Castle Coeffin ruins

Castle Coeffin is a ruined castle on the island of Lismore in Loch Linnhe in the Scottish administrative division Argyll and Bute . It is located on a headland on the north-west coast of the island across from the old Viking settlement of Glensanda .

history

Castle Coeffin was built on the site of an old Viking fortress. The name "Coeffin" is said to come from "Caifen", the name of a Viking prince. His sister is said to have haunted the castle as a ghost until her remains were buried at the side of her lover in Norway .

Castle Coeffin was built in the 13th century, probably on behalf of the MacDougall clan from Lorn . Lismore was an important place in his rule as the Cathedral of St. Moluag , seat of the Bishop of Argyll , is located there. The castle is first mentioned in a document from 1469-1470 when it was loaned to Sir Colin Campbell . After the end of the Middle Ages it was probably no longer inhabited.

ruins

The ruins consist of a rectangular, traditional hall house and an irregularly shaped outer bailey . The knight's hall has an approximately rectangular floor plan of around 20.3 meters × 10.4 meters. The walls are 2.1–2.4 meters thick. Most of the outer bailey was built later than the knight's hall. An outside staircase probably connected the entrance in the northeast wall with the outer bailey. A second gate on the southwest side provided access to the sea.

Other plants

A tidal weir of unknown age lies in a small book southeast of the castle ruins. To the northeast of the castle ruins are the remains of a stone fort. The Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland , published in 1892, lists a Castle Rachel at basically the same location as Castle Coeffin. It is described as "a very old Scandinavian fortification in the parish of Lismore and Appin, Argyllshire, on the northwest side of the island of Lismore, 2.5 miles from its northeastern end, now a ruined, ivy-covered ruin,"

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Lismore, Castle Coeffin (Castle (Medieval), Hall House (Medieval)) . In: Canmore . Royal Commission for Ancient and Historical Monuments in Scotland. Retrieved April 19, 2017.
  2. ^ Lismore, Castle Coeffin (Fish Trap) . In: Canmore . Royal Commission for Ancient and Historical Monuments in Scotland. Retrieved April 19, 2017.
  3. ^ Lismore, Castle Coeffin (Cultivation Remains (Period Unassigned), Fort (Period Unassigned)) . In: Canmore . Royal Commission for Ancient and Historical Monuments in Scotland. Retrieved April 19, 2017.
  4. ^ Francis H. Groome (editor): Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland. Volume IS 251 . 1892. Retrieved April 19, 2017.

Web links

Commons : Castle Coeffin  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 56 ° 32'10 "  N , 5 ° 29'35.9"  W.