Eilean Castle, Scotland

Eilean Donan is   a small tidal island where three lochs meet, Loch Duich, Loch Long and Loch Alsh, in the western Highlands of Scotland. 

A picturesque castle that frequently appears in photographs, film and television dominates the island, which lies about 1 km from the village of Dornie.

Eilean Donan is part of the Kintail National Scenic Area. In 2001 the island had recorded population of just on a person, but there   were no usual residents at the time of the 2011 census.

Eilean Donan which means simply island of Donan is named after Donian of Eigg, a Celtic saint martyred in 617. Donan is said to have established a church on the island, through no trace of this remains.

The castle was founded in the thirteenth century and became a stronghold of the Clan Mackeinze and their allies the Clan Macrae. In the early eighteenth century the Mackenzies involvement in the Jacobite rebellions led in 1719 to the castle's destruction by government ships. Lieutenant Colonel John Macrae Gilstrap's twentieth century reconstruction of the ruins produced the present building.

In the earlier thirteenth century, during the reign of Alexander II ( ruled 1214 - 1249), a large curtain - wall castle was constructed that enclosed much of the island. At this time the     was at the boundary of the Norse Celtic Lordship of the Isles and the Earldom of Ross. Eilean Donan provided a strong defensive position against Norse expeditions. A founding legend relates that the son of a chief of the Mathesons acquired   the power of communicating   with the birds. As a result and after many adventures overseas, he gained wealth, power and the respect of Alexander II,who asked him to build the castle to defend his realm.

At later date the island became a stronghold of the Mackenzie of Kintail originally vassals of Uilleam, Earl of Ross. At this early stage, the castle is said to have been garrisoned by Macraes and Maclennans, both clans that were later closely associated with the Mackenzie. Traditional Mackenzie clan histories relate   that Earl William sought advantage from the Treaty of Perth of 1266, by which King Magnus VI of Norway ceded the Hebrides to Scotland and demanded that his kinsman Kenneth Mackenzie return to the castle to allow his expansion into the island. Mackenzie refused and Earl William   led an assault against Eilean Donan that   the Mackenzie and their allies repulsed.

the Mackenzie clan histories also claim that Robert the Brucesheltered  at Eilean Donan during the winter of 1306 to 1307/ the castle escaped any other Involvement in he Wars of Scottish Independence. In 1331 Thomas   Randolph, Earl of Moray sent an officer to Eilean Donan to warn the occupants of his forth coming visit. In preparation 50 wrongdoers were rounded up and executed, their heads being displayed on the castle walls to Moray's approval. By the middle of the 14th century the Mackenzie are said to have been on the   loosing side in the ongoing feuding with the Earls of Ross. Earl William III granted Kintail to Raghnall mac Ruaidhri lord of Garmoran in 1432. With the assistance of Leod Macgilleandrais, the Earl allegedly apprehended Kenneth Mackenzie 3rd of Kintail and   had him executed in the 1346 at Inverness.Through this period Eilean donan is said to have been held by Duncan Macaulay for the Mackenzies, against the Earl and his allies.