Choire Mhuilinn
This picture looks westwards along the southern shore of Ardnamurchan towards Mingary Castle. The castle is still sheathed in scaffolding as work continues on its restoration, but this entry is less about the castle...
Tagged: MacIain
St Comghan’s Church – Update
A recent visit to the ruins of St Comghan’s church, the church in which the MacIains would have worshipped, gave me a chance to check some of the features which are described in...
An Intriguing Stone
This huge rock stands beside the road between Sanna and Kilchoan, in the shadow of the hill called Creag and Airgid, silver crag. Intriguingly, its whole top is covered with small pieces of stone which,...
Another MacIain Grave-slab?
We already knew of two fine grave-slabs in St Comghan’s churchyard in Kilchoan, both almost certainly of MacIain origin and possibly taken from the abbey at Iona. Now, members of Ardnamurchan Community Archaeology have...
Last Stronghold of the MacIains
It looks beautiful in the sunshine but it’s very different in winter! It was to this remote and rugged stretch of the north Ardnamurchan coastline that the remnants of Clan MacIain fled early in...
Reidh-dhail
Reidh-dhail is an intriguing place. Lying to the west of Ormsaigbeg, miles from any human habitation, in summer it’s little more than a tangle of six-foot high bracken, but the plant’s presence is a sure sign...
The Battle of Creag an Airgid
The hill called Creag an Airgid, Silver Hill, on the road between Kilchoan and Sanna, was the site of a battle in 1518 which saw the beginning of the end of the power...
The MacIains’ Church
St Comghan’s church is the church in which the MacIains would have worshipped throughout the three hundred years during which Ardnamurchan was their homeland. Today it is a ruin standing on a low hill...
Saving Mingary Castle
The castle which is so closely associated with Clan MacIain was described in 2013 by an eminent archaeologist as “The most intact thirteenth century castle in Scotland”. Yet Mingary’s present importance to Scottish archaeology and...
Ardnamurchan’s Last MacIains
It would be good to be able to trace the fate of those MacIains who may have stayed on Ardnamurchan after the Campbells finally took full possession of the peninsula, but this is difficult....
