Duart Castle

Isle of Mull, United Kingdom

Duart Castle dates back to the 13th century and is the seat of Clan MacLean. In 1647, Duart Castle was attacked and laid siege to by the Argyll government troops of Clan Campbell, but they were defeated and driven off by the Royalist troops of Clan MacLean. In September 1653, a Cromwellian task force of six ships anchored off the castle, but the Macleans had already fled to Tiree. A storm blew up on the 13 September and three ships were lost, including HMS Swan.

In 1678, Archibald Campbell, 9th Earl of Argyll, son of the Marquess of Argyll, successfully invaded the Clan MacLean lands on the Isle of Mull and Sir John Maclean, 4th Baronet fled the castle and withdrew to Cairnbulg Castle, and afterward to Kintail under the protection of the Earl of Seaforth. In 1691 Duart Castle was surrendered by Sir John Maclean, 4th Baronet to Archibald Campbell, 1st Duke of Argyll. The Campbell clan demolished the castle, and the stones from the walls were scattered. Donald Maclean, 5th Laird of Torloisk used some of the stones to build a cottage for his family close to the site of the castle. By 1751 the remains of the castle were abandoned.

Descendants of Archibald Campbell, 1st Duke of Argyll sold the castle in 1801, to MacQuarrie, who then sold it to Carter-Campbell of Possil who kept it as a ruin within the grounds of his own estate to the north, Torosay Castle. He later sold his Torosay Estate which now included the ruins of Castle Duart to A. C. Guthrie in 1865. On 11 September 1911, the ruin was separated from the rest of the Torosay Estate and was bought by Sir Fitzroy Donald Maclean, the 26th Chief of the Clan MacLean and restored.

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Isle of Mull, United Kingdom
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Details

Founded: 13th century
Category: Castles and fortifications in United Kingdom

More Information

www.duartcastle.com
en.wikipedia.org
www.visitscotland.com

Rating

4.4/5 (based on Google user reviews)

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User Reviews

Veronika Zichova (2 years ago)
Castle is closed till 1st April, but the view is breathtaking, so it worth the visit anyway.
Funny Animal Videos (3 years ago)
Great location on the Isle of Mull though sadly in September 2018 it had scaffolding around half of the building (unsure if still there) which kind of ruins the view! Nice little coffee shop and plenty of parking too. If the weather's good follow the short track down to the coastline where there are some plaques explaining the shipwreck stories jist off the coast which we found interesting!
Ahmad Kamal (3 years ago)
I think this place is amazing. The weather is better than we think. Very windy though. Very beautiful place overall.
Dave Wightman (3 years ago)
Well worth a visit if you are on the Isle of Mull. There is a walkthrough tour of the castle which describes a lot of its history, including how it was rebuilt. There are some spiral stairs which makes access difficult if you are not too steady on your feet. The views from the roof are fantastic.
Mark Hurt (3 years ago)
Lovely place to spend a few hours. Amazing views, we even saw a couple of Porpoises swimming past. Really friendly staff and beautiful food in the tea room. Thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.
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