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...
Category: Clan MacIain
A Viking House?
This broken line of rocks in a Portuairk bay may look like no more than the remains of an old wall, but it’s of some considerable interest to the local Ardnamurchan Community Archaeological group. A...
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...
Ruins Tell a Story
One of the joys of Ardnamurchan is the hiking that can be enjoyed across its hills. There are very few fences, and most of these are easily crossed. Further, there is a ‘right to roam’...
Archaeological Excavations at Swordle
Every year for the last nine years, a group of archeologists from British universities, from Archaeology Scotland, and from the commercial sector – they call themselves the Ardnamurchan Transitions Team – spend a fortnight...
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....
