Finlaggan - Eilean Mór from the north 20120411

Finlaggan (, gd, Port an Eilein) is a historic site on Eilean Mòr in Loch Finlaggan. The Loch, the island, and Finlaggan Castle lie on

Islay Islay ( ; gd, Ìle, sco, Ila) is the southernmost island of the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. Known as "The Queen of the Hebrides", it lies in Argyll just south west of Jura and around north of the Northern Irish coast. The island's capital i ...

, around to the northwest of

Ballygrant Ballygrant () is a small village on the Inner Hebrides island of Islay of the western coast of Scotland. The village is within the parish of Killarow and Kilmeny. Ballygrant (Baile a' Ghràna) is the longest established village on Islay, pre-dat ...

History

Finlaggan was the seat of the Lords of the Isles and of

Clan Donald Clan Donald, also known as Clan MacDonald ( gd, Clann Dòmhnaill; Mac Dòmhnaill ), is a Highland Scottish clan and one of the largest Scottish clans. The Lord Lyon King of Arms, the Scottish official with responsibility for regulating heraldry ...

. Two of the three islands that lie in the expansive scenery surrounding Loch Finlaggan, Eilean Mòr ("Great Isle") and Eilean na Comhairle ("Isle of the Council"), were the administrative centre of the Lordship of the Isles during the 13th to 15th centuries, until 1493 when the lordship of the Isles fell to

James IV of Scotland James IV (17 March 1473 – 9 September 1513) was King of Scotland from 11 June 1488 until his death at the Battle of Flodden in 1513. He inherited the throne at the age of fifteen on the death of his father, James III, at the Battle of Sauch ...

, who administered the territory via a

tenant-in-chief In medieval and early modern Europe, the term ''tenant-in-chief'' (or ''vassal-in-chief'') denoted a person who held his lands under various forms of feudal land tenure directly from the king or territorial prince to whom he did homage, as oppo ...

Archeology

The Finlaggan Trust maintains the site and also refurbished a derelict cottage that has been converted into a comprehensive museum. The centre contains numerous artefacts discovered during archaeological excavations: from a sheep wool quilted aketon, worn under armour, to an ancient cross related to the lords. The site has been the subject of recent archaeological investigations and hosted an episode of

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service in ...

's archaeological television programme ''

Time Team ''Time Team'' is a British television programme that originally aired on Channel 4 from 16 January 1994 to 7 September 2014. It returned online in 2022 for two episodes released on YouTube. Created by television producer Tim ...

'' in 1995. During summer 2008 the centre was extensively refurbished and extended. The stone walls of a medieval

chapel A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common type ...

dedicated to St Findlugan on Eilean Mòr have been stabilised and several 16th century graves put on display and covered by large glass panels. In May 2019, researchers at the

University of St Andrews (Aien aristeuein) , motto_lang = grc , mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best , established = , type = Public research university Ancient university , endowment ...

, working with the Finlaggan Trust and the

National Museum of Scotland The National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh, Scotland, was formed in 2006 with the merger of the new Museum of Scotland, with collections relating to Scottish antiquities, culture and history, and the adjacent Royal Scottish Museum (opened i ...

, announced the creation of a virtual-reality reconstruction of the settlement in the early 15th century, based on archaeological data. The reconstruction will be on show at the visitor centre.

Finlaggan Castle

Finlaggan Castle ( gd, Port an Eilein, en, Port of the Island), also known as ''Eilean Mòr Castle'' is a ruined fortified house located on the isle of Eilean Mór on Loch Finlaggan,

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...

. It was once a residence and stronghold of

Lord of the Isles The Lord of the Isles or King of the Isles ( gd, Triath nan Eilean or ) is a title of Scottish nobility with historical roots that go back beyond the Kingdom of Scotland. It began with Somerled in the 12th century and thereafter the title ...

and

. In the first half of the 7th century, a monastic community was established on Eilean Mòr, the larger of the islands in the loch. This was either dedicated to or possibly founded by St Findlugan, an Irish monk and a contemporary of St Columba. The ruins we see today are from a castle built in the 13th century, with masonry walls. An earlier construction, likely timber, was erected in 1138 by

Somerled Somerled (died 1164), known in Middle Irish as Somairle, Somhairle, and Somhairlidh, and in Old Norse as Sumarliði , was a mid-12th-century Norse-Gaelic lord who, through marital alliance and military conquest, rose in prominence to create the ...

, Lord of Argyll, Kintyre, and Lorne, the first "Lord of the Isles". The 12th century building might have been constructed on the remains of an earlier Iron Age fort. The Lords of the Isles used the fortress as a principal court and meeting place of their clan chiefs. Iain Mor MacDonald, 3rd of Dunnyveg and his son Iain Cathanach MacDonald were taken prisoner at Finlaggan Castle, through the deception of MacIain of Ardnamurchan for the hanging and execution of the governor of Dunaverty Castle and were later tried and hanged on the

Burgh Muir The Burgh Muir is the historic term for an extensive area of land lying to the south of Edinburgh city centre, upon which much of the southern part of the city now stands following its gradual spread and more especially its rapid expansion in th ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

. In 1541 Finlaggan was held from the Crown by Donald MacGilleasbuig. The castle appears to have been demolished in the 15th–16th century.

Footnotes

References

External links

* * {{coord, 55.83431, -6.17304, type:landmark_region:GB_source:enwiki-osgb36(NR388680), display=title Islay Lochs of Scottish islands Ruined castles in Argyll and Bute Lochs of Argyll and Bute Scheduled Ancient Monuments in Argyll and Bute