Dùn Chonnuill is a small island in the

Garvellachs The Garvellachs (Scottish Gaelic: ''Na Garbh Eileacha'') or Isles of the Sea form a small archipelago in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The islands include Garbh Eileach, Dùn Chonnuill and Eileach an Naoimh. Part of the Argyll and Bute counc ...

in the

Firth of Lorn The Firth of Lorn or Lorne () is the inlet of the sea between the south-east coast of the Isle of Mull and the mainland of Scotland. It includes a number of islands, and is noted for the variety of wildlife habitats that are found. In 2005, a l ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. Dùn Chonnuill lies north east of Garbh Eileach, the largest island of the

archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands. An archipelago may be in an ocean, a sea, or a smaller body of water. Example archipelagos include the Aegean Islands (the o ...

to which it gives its anglicised name. There is a ruined castle, perhaps dating from the mid-13th century, when it was probably one of four castles known to have been held by Ewen MacDougall of Lorn from the Norwegian crown. The first certain reference was in 1343 when the island was granted to

John of Islay, Lord of the Isles John of Islay (or John MacDonald) ( or ) (died 1386) was the lord of the Isles (1336–1386) and chief of Clan Donald. In 1336, he styled himself ''Dominus Insularum'' ('Lord of the Isles'), although this was not the first ever recorded instan ...

along with Cairnburgh and " Iselborgh". By 1390 his son

Donald Donald is a Scottish masculine given name. It is derived from the Gaelic name ''Dòmhnall''.. This comes from the Proto-Celtic *''Dumno-ualos'' ("world-ruler" or "world-wielder"). The final -''d'' in ''Donald'' is partly derived from a misinter ...

had granted half of the constabulary of Dùn Chonnuill to Lachlan Lùbanach Maclean of Duart. Circa 1385

John of Fordun John of Fordun (before 1360 – c. 1384) was a Scottish chronicler. It is generally stated that he was born at Fordoun, Mearns. It is certain that he was a secular priest, and that he composed his history in the latter part of the 14th ...

included "the great castle of Dunquhonie" in his list of Hebridean strongholds. The MacLeans continued to hold the island and its castle until the mid-17th century, when ownership passed to the Campbell

Earls of Argyll Duke of Argyll () is a title created in the peerage of Scotland in 1701 and in the Peerages in the United Kingdom, peerage of the United Kingdom in 1892. The earls, marquesses, and dukes of Argyll were for several centuries among the most pow ...

Dean Monro Donald Monro (or Munro) (fl. 1526–1574) was a Scottish clergyman, who wrote an early and historically valuable description of the Hebrides and other Scottish islands and enjoyed the honorific title of " Dean of the Isles". Origins Donald Monr ...

, writing in 1549, made a brief reference to the isle in his ''

Description of the Western Isles of Scotland ''Description of the Western Isles of Scotland'' is the oldest known account of the Hebrides and the Islands of the Clyde, two chains of islands off the west coast of Scotland. The author was Donald Monro (priest), Donald Monro, a clergyman wh ...

'' referring to "ane strength... ane round Castell". To the northeast there are also the ruins of five roughly rectangular buildings, the largest of which is 12m by 6m in extent. They are all round-cornered and better preserved than the fortifications on the summit but are likely to be of a similar date. The " hereditary keeper" of the castle is Charles Maclean, son of the late Fitzroy Maclean.

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Uninhabited islands of Argyll and Bute Islands of the Inner Hebrides Ruined castles in Argyll and Bute {{Argyll-geo-stub