Dunstaffnage Castle

This is a partially ruined castle which is very close to Oban. It is surrounded on three sides by the sea so it was a wonderful place to build a castle in the second quarter of the 13th century. The MacDougall lords of Lorn built this castle and the Clan Campbell have held this castle since the 15th century.


This castle was captured by Robert the Bruce in 1309.

This castle is an irregular quadrangular structure of great strength with rounded towers at three of the angles. It measures 115 by 98 ft. The walls are 60 feet high including the bedrock platform and the walls are 10 ft. thick.



The Earls of Argyll appointed Captains to oversee Dunstaffnage and keep it in readiness on their behalf. Dunstaffnage saw action during the Civil War, holding out against Montrose's army in 1644. The castle was burned by royalist troops in 1685 against the Catholic James VII. Flora MacDonald who helped Bonnie Prince Charlie to escape from Scotland was briefly imprisoned here while en route to imprisonment in London.

In 1810 an accidental fire gutted the castle and the Captains ceased to live here moving to Dunstaffnage House until this too burned down in 1940. Guess they didn't have fire extinguishers or fire blankets that we have in each missionary flat.