Rahan Castle, also known as McSwyne's Castle and Castle Murray, is a ruined castle near

Dunkineely Dunkineely () is a small village and townland in County Donegal, Ireland. It is situated from the town of Donegal and from Killybegs on the N56 National secondary road. It is a small single street village with a population of around 300 in it ...

County Donegal County Donegal ( ; ga, Contae Dhún na nGall) is a county of Ireland in the province of Ulster and in the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Donegal in the south of the county. It has also been known as County Tyrconn ...

, Ireland. The castle was once a stronghold of Clan Suibhne.

History

The McSwynes probably came to Ireland in the 13th century, according to other sources only in the 14th century from Scottish

Argyll Argyll (; archaically Argyle, in modern Gaelic, ), sometimes called Argyllshire, is a historic county and registration county of western Scotland. Argyll is of ancient origin, and corresponds to most of the part of the ancient kingdom of ...

to Ireland. They were foot soldiers and standard bearers of the ''O'Donnells''. In later years, the McSwynes () fought alongside the ''O'Neills'', suggesting they were mercenaries. In the mid-15th century the McSwynes had their castle built; the land was theirs up to the Plantation of Ulster. With the conquest by the Scots, land and castle fell to the conquerors; King

James VI and I James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until ...

bequeathed it to ''William Stuart'' and later to John Murray, who was made

Earl of Annandale 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 Scandinavian form '' jarl'', and meant "chieftain", particula ...

in 1625. When John Murray died in 1640, his son

James James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguati ...

inherited the castle and title. James died childless and so the castle passed to his cousin ''Robert Creighton'' who took the name 'Murray'. After the Rebellion of 1641, in the reign of King Charles II, a dispute arose over the ownership of the castle and lands between the Creightons and ''Robert Murray'' of Scotland, another second cousin. After years of legal battles in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, Scotland and Ireland, the Creightons lost the estate. The castle was no longer inhabited and fell into disrepair. In 1844, stone from the ruins was used to build the parish church at

Killybegs Killybegs () is a town in County Donegal, Ireland. It is the largest fishing port in the country and on the island of Ireland. It is located on the south coast of the county, north of Donegal Bay, near Donegal Town. Its Irish name ''Na Cealla ...

, dedicated to the ''Annunciation''. However, even the Scottish line of the Murray family could not definitively prove their ownership rights and so they could not sell the property until the 19th century. The tenants were more inclined towards the Irish Creightons than the Scottish Murrays and ended up paying their rent to ''David Creighton''. However, the Murrays remained official owners of the estate until the

Irish Land Commission The Irish Land Commission was created by the British crown in 1843 to 'inquire into the occupation of the land in Ireland. The office of the commission was in Dublin Castle, and the records were, on its conclusion, deposited in the records tower t ...

took it over in the 20th century.

References

Castles in County Donegal Ruined castles in Ireland Ruins in the Republic of Ireland {{Donegal-geo-stub