The Eilean Donan Castle

Good morning all.

Hubby and I visited the Eilean Donan Castle recently as we headed north to join the North coast 500...more details of the trip can be found here and here.

It had been a lifelong dream of mine to see the castle first hand having grown up with a picture of it hanging on the wall at home....it was definitely worth waiting for!

First view of the castle from the carpark

A little history!

Eilean Donan...or Island of Donan is in the village of Dornie, by the Kyle of Lochalsh on the west coast of Scotland at the head of Loch Duich. It was originally built in the 13th century by the Mackenzie and Macrae clans to ward off invading Vikings who were making a bit of a nuisance of themselves at that time! The 14th century saw Robert the Bruce hiding there for a while and in 1331 Randolph, the Earl of Moray executed 50 men and stuck there heads on display along the castle walls...he must have been a pleasant sort of neighbour to have...not!

By the 17th and 18th centuries the castle was the stronghold for the Jacobite rebellions and was eventually destroyed by the English government in 1719 for it's role in the uprising. The castle then lay ruined for almost 200 years until Lt Colonel John Macrae-Gilstrap bought the island in 1911.
The next 20 years were spent restoring the castle to it's former glory (using the original specifications) and the castle you see today is as it was in 1932...and much like it would have been in the 17th and early 18th centuries with the addition of the bridge and the monument to those of the Clan MacRae who had fought in the First World War. the castle first opened to the public in 1955.

The Bridge

The monument

Of course today the castle is a major tourist attraction, attracting thousands of visitors per day in high season. Your ticket gets you over to the island and an unguided tour of the castle interior, knowledgeable guides are on hand though in the main rooms. The visitor centre has the usual well stocked shop and a cafe upstairs with picture windows across to the castle, where you can sit and watch the Scottish weather vistas which are apt to change at regular intervals.  Dornie itself is a pretty little village spread out on both sides of the bridge.

Photos from my camera - Fujifilm XF1

Photos from my iPhone 6s

Sadly there was little in the way of blue skies or sunshine whilst we were there...a good excuse to go back again...but the cloud does lend itself to a special moodiness quite befitting the history of the castle.

A definite must for anyone's Scottish bucketlist but probably best seen out of the main summer season when things are a little quieter.

Carol x