Rahan Castle, also known as McSwyne's Castle and Castle Murray, is a ruined castle near

Dunkineely Dunkineely () is a small village and townland in County Donegal, Ireland. It is situated from the town of Donegal and from Killybegs on the N56 National secondary road. It is a small single street village with a population of around 350. Th ...

County Donegal County Donegal ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county of the Republic of Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and is the northernmost county of Ireland. The county mostly borders Northern Ireland, sharing only a small b ...

, Ireland. The castle was once a stronghold of Clan Suibhne.

History

The McSwynes probably came to Ireland in the 13th century, according to other sources only in the 14th century from

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

Argyll Argyll (; archaically Argyle; , ), sometimes called Argyllshire, is a Shires of Scotland, historic county and registration county of western Scotland. The county ceased to be used for local government purposes in 1975 and most of the area ...

to Ireland. They were foot soldiers and standard bearers of the ''O'Donnells''. In later years, the McSwynes () fought alongside the ''O'Neills'', suggesting they were mercenaries. In the mid-15th century the McSwynes had their castle built; the land was theirs up to the

Plantation of Ulster The Plantation of Ulster (; Ulster Scots dialects, Ulster Scots: ) was the organised Settler colonialism, colonisation (''Plantation (settlement or colony), plantation'') of Ulstera Provinces of Ireland, province of Irelandby people from Great ...

. With the conquest by the Scots, land and castle fell to the conquerors; King

James VI and I James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and King of Ireland, Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 M ...

bequeathed it to ''William Stuart'' and later to John Murray, who was made

Earl of Annandale Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. In modern Britain, an earl is a member of the peerage, ranking below a marquess and above a viscount. A feminine form of ''earl'' never developed; instead, ''countess'' is used. The titl ...

in 1625. When John Murray died in 1640, his son

James James may refer to: People * James (given name) * James (surname) * James (musician), aka Faruq Mahfuz Anam James, (born 1964), Bollywood musician * James, brother of Jesus * King James (disambiguation), various kings named James * Prince Ja ...

inherited the castle and title. James died childless and so the castle passed to his cousin ''Robert Creighton'' who took the name 'Murray'. After the

Rebellion of 1641 The Irish Rebellion of 1641 was an uprising in Ireland, initiated on 23 October 1641 by Catholic gentry and military officers. Their demands included an end to anti-Catholic discrimination, greater Irish self-governance, and return of confiscat ...

, in the reign of King Charles II, a dispute arose over the ownership of the castle and lands between the Creightons and ''Robert Murray'' of Scotland, another second cousin. After years of legal battles in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, Scotland and Ireland, the Creightons lost the estate. The castle was no longer inhabited and fell into disrepair. In 1844, stone from the ruins was used to build the parish church at

Killybegs Killybegs () is a town in County Donegal, Ireland. It is the largest fishing port in the country and on the island of Ireland. It is located on the south coast of the county, north of Donegal Bay, near Donegal Town. Its Irish name means 'littl ...

, dedicated to the ''Annunciation''. However, even the Scottish line of the Murray family could not definitively prove their ownership rights and so they could not sell the property until the 19th century. The tenants were more inclined towards the Irish Creightons than the Scottish Murrays and ended up paying their rent to ''David Creighton''. However, the Murrays remained official owners of the estate until the

Irish Land Commission The Irish Land Commission was created by the British crown in 1843 to "inquire into the occupation of the land in Ireland. The office of the commission was in Dublin Castle, and the records were, on its conclusion, deposited in the records tower ...

took it over in the 20th century.

References

Castles in County Donegal Ruined castles in the Republic of Ireland Ruins in the Republic of Ireland {{Donegal-geo-stub