Cairnburgh Castle
{{Short description|Castle in the United Kingdom}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
Cairnburgh Castle is a ruined castle that is located on the islands of Cairn na Burgh Mòr and Cairn na Burgh Beag, Argyll and Bute, Scotland. These islands are at the northern extremity of the Treshnish Isles at the mouth of Loch Tuath, Mull north of Iona.{{cite web| url=http://www.scottish-places.info/features/featurefirst17437.html| title=Cairnburgh Castle| publisher=Gazetteer for Scotland| accessdate=30 May 2010}} 1991's The Changing Scottish Landscape characterizes it as "one of the most isolated fortifications in Britain...[and] also one of the strangest."Whyte and White (1991), 91.
Structure
History
=13th century=
The castle, which may have begun its existence as a Viking fortress called Kiarnaborg, has been held by a variety of individuals since its first recorded appearance in 1249. It is mentioned in the 13th century Hákonar saga Hákonarsonar as the property of an island king of the family of Somerled, demanded of him by Alexander III of Scotland.Skene (1876), 489. The Gazetteer for Scotland reports that the castle's owner at least from 1249 to 1269 was Clan MacDougall, descendants of Somerled through his son Dubgall.Marsden (2010), 38. When the MacDougall clan supported John de Balliol against Robert de Brus in the Wars of Scottish Independence, the Crown seized the castle. Temporarily occupied by Clan MacDonald, it at some point became the property of Clan MacLean.
=15th century=
In 1409, Hector Maclean, chief of Clan Maclean, received a charter from his uncle Donald of Islay, Lord of the Isles for certain lands. In the charter Hector was described as Lord of Duart Castle and constable of the castle of Cairnburg.History of Clan Maclean by J.P. Maclean, 1889, p. 40.
=16th century=
{{Campaignbox Clan Donald and Stewart royal family wars}}
While the property of Clan MacLean, the castle was the location of several conflicts, but it was extremely well defended by the cliffs that surrounded it.Whyte and Whyte (1990), 36. It was besieged in 1504 by James IV when the MacLeans rebelled in favor of Domhnall Dubh, chief of Clan Donald.
=17th century=
It was briefly taken in 1647 during the War of the Three Kingdoms by General David Leslie. In the next decade, it was torched by Oliver Cromwell's New Model Army. The fire likely caused the demise of a number of manuscripts that had been conveyed to the castle for safety from Iona after the 1561 Act calling for the destruction of "Monuments of Idolatry".Corcoran, Ryan and Prendergast (1902), 537. In 1679, it stood against the Campbells, but did not stand when attacked again in 1692.
=18th century=
Twice during the Jacobite risings, in 1715 and 1745, the government used Cairnsburgh to house troops. In 1759 it was the birthplace of author Isabella Kelly.Stewart (2007), 210.
References
- [http://canmore.rcahms.gov.uk/en/site/21823/details/treshnish+isles+cairn+na+burgh+beg+castle/ Cairn na burgh beg]
- [http://canmore.rcahms.gov.uk/en/site/21822/details/treshnish+isles+cairn+na+burgh+more+castle/ Cairn na burgh more]
- [http://www.scottish-places.info/features/featurefirst17437.html Cairnburgh Castle]
- {{cite book|last1=Corcoran|first1=James Andrew|authorlink1=James Andrew Corcoran|author2=Patrick John Ryan|author3=Edmond Francis Prendergast|title=The American Catholic quarterly review|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mZrNAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA537|accessdate=6 June 2010|year=1902|publisher=Hardy and Mahony.}}
- {{cite book|last=Marsden|first=John|title=Somerled: And the Emergence of Gaelic Scotland|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9BIXAQAAIAAJ|accessdate=6 June 2010|date=1 January 2010|publisher=Tuckwell Press, Ltd.|isbn=978-1-904607-80-9}}
- {{cite book|last=Skene|first=William F.|title=Celtic Scotland: a history of ancient Alban|url=https://archive.org/details/celticscotlanda03skengoog|page=[https://archive.org/details/celticscotlanda03skengoog/page/n521 489]|accessdate=6 June 2010|year=1876|publisher=Edmonston & Douglas}}
- {{cite book|last1=Stewart|first1=William|author2=Steven Barfield|title=British and Irish poets: a biographical dictionary, 449-2006|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HYFlAAAAMAAJ|accessdate=6 June 2010|date=July 2007|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-0-7864-2891-5}}
- {{cite book|last1=Whyte|first1=Ian D.|author2=Kathleen A. Whyte|title=The changing Scottish landscape, 1500-1800|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n5oOAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA91|accessdate=6 June 2010|year=1991|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-0-415-02992-6|pages=91–}}
- {{cite book|last1=Whyte|first1=Ian D.|author2=Kathleen A. Whyte|title=On the trail of the Jacobites|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jpMOAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA36|accessdate=6 June 2010|year=1990|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-0-415-03334-3}}
Notes
{{reflist}}
{{Treshnish Isles}}
{{coord|56|31|6|N|6|22|52|W|region:GB_type:landmark|display=title}}