In the western Highlands of Scotland, about a mile from the settlement of Dornie, is the tidal island with a Scottish castle known as Eilean Donan. The original fortress of the island, constructed in the thirteenth century and used as a stronghold by the Clan Mackenzie and its allies, the Clan MacRae, was taken by them in 1563. However, government ships demolished the castle in 1719 in retaliation for the participation of the Mackenzies in the Jacobite uprisings at the beginning of the 18th century. The original castle was rebuilt in the 20th century by Lieutenant-Colonel John Macrae-Gilstrap to become the current structure. One of the 40 National Scenic Areas of Scotland, Kintail, includes Eilean Donan. Eilean Donan is named in honor of the Celtic martyr Donnán of Eigg, who died in 617. There is no sign of the church that Donnán is claimed to have founded on the island. It is probable that around the sixth or seventh century, an early Christian monastic cell was established on the island. A fortification from the Iron Age or the early Middle Ages may have existed on the island, as evidenced by the discovery of stone fragments that have vitrified. During the rule of Alexander II,1214–1249, in the first half of the thirteenth century, a massive curtain-wall castle that encircled much of the island was built. The region around the island served as a good defensive position against Norse expeditions at the time since it was on the border between the Norse-Celtic Lordship of the Isles and the Earldom of Ross. According to a foundation legend, the son of a Matheson chief developed the ability to converse with birds. As a result of this talent and numerous overseas exploits, he amassed wealth, power and the esteem of Alexander II, who commissioned him to construct the castle to protect his domain. The presence of only one person on the island was all that was known about it in 2001
[Information and Image Credit : Eilean_Donan, Wikipedia]
[Wikipedia-Link : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eilean_Donan ]
[Image : Castle ruins, sometime before 1911]
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