Eilean Donan Castle
The most photographed castle in Scotland was a blown-up ruin for 200 years, then rebuilt in the 20th century by a man who'd never seen it standing.
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Quick Facts
- Location
- On a tidal islet where Loch Duich, Loch Long and Loch Alsh meet, beside the village of Dornie in the Scottish Highlands
- Named after
- St Donnán, a Celtic missionary said to have been killed on Eigg in 617
- First fortified
- Traditionally the 13th century, as a defence against Viking raiders
- Destroyed
- May 1719, bombarded by Royal Navy warships during a Jacobite rising
- Rebuilt
- 1912 to 1932, led by Lt Col John Macrae-Gilstrap
- Architect
- George Mackie Watson, with Farquhar Macrae as clerk of works
- Access
- By a stone arched footbridge from the shore
- On screen
- Highlander (1986) and the Bond film The World Is Not Enough (1999)
A castle that spent two centuries as a heap of rubble
Look at Eilean Donan and you're looking at something mostly built in the days of the talkies. For roughly 200 years after 1719, the island held nothing but broken walls. The present castle is a 20th-century reconstruction, finished in 1932. It's one of the best-known buildings in Scotland, and it rose from a ruin on an islet in the western Highlands. The setting helps. Three sea lochs meet here, with mountains behind. Few places could look so much like the Highlands of a postcard.
From a saint's island to a clan stronghold
The name means 'island of Donnán'. It recalls St Donnán, an early Christian missionary said to have been killed on Eigg in 617. Tradition places a church or cell on the islet in his memory. The first castle is usually dated to the 13th century, built to guard the sea routes and the lands around against Viking raiders. Later it passed into the orbit of the Mackenzies, the powerful clan whose chiefs became Earls of Seaforth. The Macraes were the castle's hereditary constables, the loyal keepers who held it for the Mackenzies. That link would matter centuries later.
The day the Royal Navy blew it up
In 1719 the castle became a Jacobite outpost. A small Spanish force, backed by the Earl of Seaforth, garrisoned it as part of a rising meant to put the Stuarts back on the throne. The government responded from the sea. On 10 May 1719 three Royal Navy warships, Enterprise, Worcester and Flamborough, bombarded the castle. When the garrison was overcome, the gunpowder stored inside was blown up, and the castle was wrecked. The rising fizzled out soon afterwards. Eilean Donan was left to the weather.
The man who rebuilt a castle from a plan
In 1911 Lt Col John Macrae-Gilstrap bought the island. He came from the Macrae family, who had once been the castle's keepers, and he was determined to bring the place back to life. The work ran from 1912 to 1932, with George Mackie Watson as architect and Farquhar Macrae overseeing the building on site. It was planned partly from earlier records of the old castle, but the result was no strict copy. The builders had to add walls, rooms and a stone arched bridge to make it a home that could be lived in. Macrae-Gilstrap also set up a separate war memorial beside the castle, honouring members of Clan MacRae who died in the First World War. The rebuilt castle was formally opened in 1932.
Bond, Highlander and the movie castle
Cameras love Eilean Donan. It appears in Highlander (1986), where it serves as the home of the Clan MacLeod. It was also used in The World Is Not Enough (1999), as the Scottish headquarters of MI6. It works so well on screen because it looks exactly like the castle everyone imagines before they've seen one: stone walls, a bridge, water on every side and heather-covered hills beyond. It also turns up on biscuit tins, shortbread boxes and calendars, which means many people know it long before they visit.
What to look for when you get there
Start with the approach. The stone footbridge is the classic way in, and the best photographs are usually taken from the shore near Dornie, where the castle sits in front of the water. Inside, look for the Billeting Room, which tells the story of the 1719 garrison, and the displays on the Macrae family and the Jacobites. Notice, too, the rebuilt walls and the small rooms that make the keep feel like a family home rather than a fortress. Outside, the real show is the view. On a still day the lochs reflect the walls, and the light on the mountains changes by the minute.
Notable people
- St Donnán
- John Macrae-Gilstrap
- George Mackie Watson
- Farquhar Macrae
- Earl of Seaforth
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