Dunaverty Castle is located at

Southend Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authority area with borough status in southeastern Essex, England. It lies on the north side of the Thames Estuary, east of central London. It is bordered ...

at the southern end of the

Kintyre Kintyre ( gd, Cinn Tìre, ) is a peninsula in western Scotland, in the southwest of Argyll and Bute. The peninsula stretches about , from the Mull of Kintyre in the south to East and West Loch Tarbert in the north. The region immediately nor ...

peninsula in western

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. The site was once a fort belonging to the

Clan Donald Clan Donald, also known as Clan MacDonald ( gd, Clann Dòmhnaill; Mac Dòmhnaill ), is a Highland Scottish clan and one of the largest Scottish clans. The Lord Lyon King of Arms, the Scottish official with responsibility for regulating heraldry ...

(MacDonald). Little remains of the castle, although the site is protected as a

scheduled monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and ...

History

The remains of Dunaverty Castle stand on a rocky head land on the south east corner of

. The headland it was built on forms a natural stronghold with the sea on three sides and is only approachable from the north. It is attached to the mainland only by a narrow path. It is known that the castle itself was accessed by a drawbridge.

13th century

In 1248,

Henry III, King of England Henry III (1 October 1207 – 16 November 1272), also known as Henry of Winchester, was King of England, Lord of Ireland, and Duke of Aquitaine from 1216 until his death in 1272. The son of King John and Isabella of Angoulême, Henry ass ...

allowed Walter Byset to buy stores from

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

for Dunaverty Castle which he had seized and was fortifying, apparently in revenge for hospitality given by Alexander II, King of Scotland to certain English pirates. However during that same year the castle was taken by Allan, the son of the

Earl of Atholl The Mormaer or Earl of Atholl was the title of the holder of a medieval comital lordship straddling the highland province of Atholl (''Ath Fodhla''), now in northern Perthshire. Atholl is a special Mormaerdom, because a King of Atholl is repor ...

, and Byset was taken prisoner. In 1263, Dunaverty Castle was garrisoned by

Alexander III, King of Scotland Alexander III (Medieval ; Modern Gaelic: ; 4 September 1241 – 19 March 1286) was King of Scots from 1249 until his death. He concluded the Treaty of Perth, by which Scotland acquired sovereignty over the Western Isles and the Isle of Man. His ...

during the Norwegian campaign of Hákon Hákonarson, King of Norway. The castle was eventually surrendered to the Norwegian king, who in turn granted it to

Dubhghall mac Ruaidhrí Dubhghall mac Ruaidhrí (died 1268) was a leading figure in the thirteenth-century Kingdom of the Isles, on the West Coast of Scotland. He was a son of Ruaidhrí mac Raghnaill, and thus a member of Clann Ruaidhrí. Dubhgall was the last Gaelic K ...

, one of his steadfast supporters in the Hebrides. With the evaporation of Norwegian sovereignty in the Hebrides after 1263, Alexander III appears to have retaken the castle.

14th century

Late in 1306, the embattled Robert I, King of Scotland seems to have fled to the safety of Dunaverty Castle and his friend, Aonghus Óg Mac Domhnaill, the Lord of the Isles. According to ''

The Bruce ''The Brus'', also known as ''The Bruce'', is a long narrative poem, in Early Scots, of just under 14,000 octosyllabic lines composed by John Barbour which gives a historic and chivalric account of the actions of Robert the Bruce and Sir Jame ...

'', the king was harboured there for three days by Aonghus Óg Mac Domhnaill, before Aonghus took him to

Rathlin Island Rathlin Island ( ga, Reachlainn, ; Local Irish dialect: ''Reachraidh'', ; Scots: ''Racherie'') is an island and civil parish off the coast of County Antrim (of which it is part) in Northern Ireland. It is Northern Ireland's northernmost point. ...

. Some contemporary sources suggest that the castle was already under the king's control, however, and that the king acquired it from a certain Maol Coluim in March. In September of that year, when the English arrived at the castle, the Scottish king was not to be found.

15th century

In 1493 the fourth and last

Lord of the Isles The Lord of the Isles or King of the Isles ( gd, Triath nan Eilean or ) is a title of Scottish nobility with historical roots that go back beyond the Kingdom of Scotland. It began with Somerled in the 12th century and thereafter the title ...

forfeited his title to James IV, King of Scotland. By 1494 the king had garrisoned and provisioned Dunaverty Castle. It is said that the MacDonalds, led by Sir John MacDonald whom the king had recently knighted, retook the castle before the King had even departed to

Stirling Stirling (; sco, Stirlin; gd, Sruighlea ) is a city in central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the royal citadel, the medieval old town with its me ...

and that the dead body of the King's castle governor was hung over the castle walls in sight of the King and his departing entourage. Sir John Macdonald however was later captured by

MacIain of Ardnamurchan The MacDonalds of Ardnamurchan also known as MacIain of Ardnamurchan, or Clan MacIan,{{cite book , last=Coventry , first=Martin , year=2008 , title=Castles of the Clans: The Strongholds and Seats of 750 Scottish Families and Clans , location=Musse ...

. He was tried and hanged on the

Burgh Muir The Burgh Muir is the historic term for an extensive area of land lying to the south of Edinburgh city centre, upon which much of the southern part of the city now stands following its gradual spread and more especially its rapid expansion in t ...

near Edinburgh.

16th century

The castle was repaired by the crown between 1539 and 1542. In January 1544, a Commission in Queen Mary's name was given to the captain, constable and keeper of the Castle of Dunaverty, to deliver it with its artillery and ammunition to the

Earl of Argyll Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. The title originates in the Old English word ''eorl'', meaning "a man of noble birth or rank". The word is cognate with the Old Norse, Scandinavian form ''jarl'', and meant "Germanic ch ...

and in April of that year Argyll received a 12-year

tack TACK is a group of archaea acronym for Thaumarchaeota (now Nitrososphaerota), Aigarchaeota, Crenarchaeota (now Thermoproteota), and Korarchaeota, the first groups discovered. They are found in different environments ranging from acidophilic ...

of North and South Kintyre, including the castle. The English raided Kintyre and Campbeltown Loch in October 1588 because of the activities of the

Clan MacDonald Clan Donald, also known as Clan MacDonald ( gd, Clann Dòmhnaill; Mac Dòmhnaill ), is a Highland Scottish clan and one of the largest Scottish clans. The Lord Lyon King of Arms, the Scottish official with responsibility for regulating heraldry i ...

in Ireland. The

Earl of Sussex Earl of Sussex is a title that has been created several times in the Peerages of England, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom. The early Earls of Arundel (up to 1243) were often also called Earls of Sussex. The fifth creation came in the Peer ...

sailed from Dublin in the '' Mary Willoughby'' with a small fleet and burnt

Saddell Saddell ( gd, Saghadal, ) is a small Scottish village situated on the east side of the Kintyre Peninsula of Argyll and Bute, overlooking the Kilbrannan Sound and the Isle of Arran, from Campbeltown on the B842 road to Carradale. The name S ...

, Dunaverty and Machrimore. He then burnt farms on Arran, Bute, and Cumbrae.C. S. Knighton & David Loades, ''Navy of Edward VI and Mary I'' (Navy Records Society, 2011), pp. 386-9.

17th century

In 1626, the Lordship of Kintyre was reconstituted in favour of the

and Dunaverty Castle was denoted as its principal

messuage In law, conveyancing is the transfer of legal title of real property from one person to another, or the granting of an encumbrance such as a mortgage or a lien. A typical conveyancing transaction has two major phases: the exchange of contracts ...

. Argyll bestowed the Lordship of Kintyre on James, his eldest son by his second marriage, who, in 1635, at Dunaverty, granted a charter of the Lordship to

Viscount Dunluce A viscount ( , for male) or viscountess (, for female) is a title used in certain European countries for a noble of varying status. In many countries a viscount, and its historical equivalents, was a non-hereditary, administrative or judicial ...

, eldest son of

Randal MacDonnell, 1st Earl of Antrim Randall MacSorley MacDonnell, 1st Earl of Antrim, PC (Ire) (died 1636), rebelled together with Tyrone and Tyrconnell in the Nine Years' War but having succeeded his brother, Sir James mac Sorley MacDonnell, as Lord of the Route and the Glynn ...

. The transfer was set aside by the

Scottish Privy Council The Privy Council of Scotland ( — 1 May 1708) was a body that advised the Scottish monarch. In the range of its functions the council was often more important than the Estates in the running the country. Its registers include a wide range of ...

, no doubt on a complaint by Argyll's eldest son, the Marquis of Lorn, who had bitterly resented his father's bestowal of the Lordship on his younger half-brother. On 12 December 1636, Lorn received a charter, under the Great Seal, of the Lordship of Kintyre, with the Castle of Dunaverty as its principal messuage. During the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government polici ...

Dunaverty was besieged in 1647 by Scottish supporters of

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three ...

who were led by General David Leslie (Leslie later became a

Royalist A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of gov ...

). The MacDonalds surrendered and then 300 of them were massacred. This incident became known as the Battle of Dunaverty, or "Dunaverty Massacre". The castle is nothing more than a ruin now, known as Blood Rock for the massacre which took place there.

Citations

References

*{{cite book , last=Barrow , first=GWS , author-link=G. W. S. Barrow , year=1981 , title=Kingship and Unity: Scotland 1000–1306 , publisher=University of Toronto Press , location=Toronto , isbn=0 8020 6448 5 , ref=B1 Kintyre 13th century in Scotland 13th-century fortifications Ruined castles in Argyll and Bute Scheduled Ancient Monuments in Argyll and Bute