Eilean Donan Castle

The road was narrow and winding, like nearly every other road we’d driven on since leaving Edinburgh. A glassy loch stretched out to our left while a mountain rose up on the right. And an annoying little navy Peugeot was riding our rear bumper. I scarcely noticed the beautiful scenery in my irritation at the tailgater and my attempts to get him to back off. Apparently, talking heatedly to other drivers from within your car and glaring at them in the rear view mirror isn’t a very effective way to get them to change their behavior. 

Through a break in the roadside foliage we caught a glimpse of our destination: a weathered stone fortress seemingly floating in the middle of the loch, the heavy clouds overhead giving it an ominous air. Soon we were leaving the tailgating Peugeot behind and turning into the parking lot of Eilean Donan castle. Having seen so many pictures of this castle over the years, I felt a little like I was about to meet a celebrity.

When we arrived, the tide was out, exposing a massive carpet of orangish seaweed and muck around the island and the stone footbridge that connects it to the mainland. We all had our cameras out and began snapping photos well before we’d even made it to the visitors’ center to buy our tickets. With such a grand subject, it would be easy to stay all day and fill up an entire memory card with photos.

Eilean Donan is an iconic castle dating from the 13^th century situated in the western Highlands of Scotland. It sits on a small tidal island strategically located at the confluence of three lochs: Loch Duich, Loch Long and Loch Alsh. It featured prominently in the movie The Highlander and has been the backdrop for many other films and television programs as well. It’s a very photographic castle, able to look both majestic and forlorn, in a very picturesque setting, surrounded by water and low, rolling mountains.

The island is thought to have been originally inhabited by an Irish priest or bishop, Donnan of Eigg, and a small religious colony he founded here in the late 5^th or early 6^th century.  The colony apparently didn't last long and he and 52 of his monks were martyred on the isle of Eigg in 617 AD. The castle, which has a storied, bloody history, was constructed in its earliest form in the early 13^th century. It grew over time and later became a stronghold for the Clan Mackenzie and their allies, the Clan Macrae, before falling into ruins in the late 18^th century.

The current structure is actually an early 20^th-century reconstruction of the 18^th-century castle, completed by a descendant of Clan Macrae. He wanted to restore this long-time family home to its original glory, thinking it a shame that it had fallen into ruins. Read more about it here.

Although it looks on the outside much like it did 300 years ago, the interior was somewhat modernized during the reconstruction—adding electricity and plumbing, for example—leaving me disappointed that the inside was kind of tacky compared to the outside. Nevertheless, it’s still full of interesting nooks and crannies.

The gently curving footbridge that leads to the castle is a fitting prelude to the solid and imposing collection of buildings on the other end. Back in the day, visitors had to row out to the castle, which kept watch over the surrounding territory against Norse invaders. One story tells of a local noble or magistrate of some sort--I forget which--coming to the castle and seeing heads displayed on pikes around its perimeter. Apparently the visitor was a stickler for rules and punishment and said that the sight of all those severed heads and the justice they represented warmed his heart. 

No pictures were allowed inside the buildings but I did get some shots of the castle complex from the stony courtyard (above) and this particularly gothic-looking image of the main entrance gate (below). I tried to imagine what it might have been like to live here, being so close to the elements, climbing narrow stone stairways to get up and down the castle's many levels, collecting fish from the loch for dinner. 

Once we’d had our fill of history and stone and taken more than enough photos to satisfy our memories, we piled into the car, pulled back onto the narrow, winding road, and continued our journey. Next stop: Isle of Skye.