Mingary Castle

Mingary Castle Details

Mingary Castle, a ruined C13 courtyard castle of the MacDonalds and later of the Campbells. Critical stabilisation work now complete and run as a hotel.

  • Closest To: Kilchoan
  • Access: Free Public Access
  • Grid Reference: NM503631

Mingary Castle was recently restored by a charitable Trust and is now run as a hotel and venue. It is a 13th century courtyard castle on a rocky coastal outcrop on the remote Ardnamurchan peninsular, altered in the 16th century, and converted to a barracks in the 18th. It was purchased and occupied privately in 1770, and was eventually abandoned by 1838 when still owned by the Ardnamurchan Estate.

The peninsular was dominated by the Lords of the Isles from the mid 12th century, and it is likely that it was one of the Clan Donald who founded it although it was soon occupied by the MacIain clan. The MacIains were rivals to the Macdonalds locally, and supported King James IV when he suppressed the latter – only to be targeted as a prominent royalist in 1516 when Mingary was burned. The MacIains needed Campbell support to eject the Macdonalds from Ardnamurchan, only to be evicted themselves in 1629. The Campbells then garrisoned Mingary until 1745.

Mingary Castle Hotel website

HES Canmore database

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