Breachacha Castle (also spelled Breacachadh) is either of two structures on the shore of Loch Breachacha, on the Inner Hebridean island of

Coll Coll (; )Mac an Tàilleir (2003) p. 31 is an island located west of the Isle of Mull and northeast of Tiree in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. Coll is known for its sandy beaches, which rise to form large sand dunes, for its corncrakes, and fo ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. The earlier (also called Old Breachacha Castle) is a 15th-century

tower house A tower house is a particular type of stone structure, built for defensive purposes as well as habitation. Tower houses began to appear in the Middle Ages, especially in mountainous or limited access areas, to command and defend strategic points ...

that was a stronghold of the Macleans of Coll, the island having been granted to John Maclean in 1431. This castle was superseded by a new dwelling in 1750 (see below) but continued to be occupied for a time. It fell into a ruinous state only in the mid-19th century. Work was performed in the 1930s to prevent further dilapidation. A retired

Royal Engineer The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...

, Brig.-Gen. Ernest Moncrieff Paul (1864–1942), in 1933 obtained permission from

Lyon King of Arms The Right Honourable the Lord Lyon King of Arms, the head of Lyon Court, is the most junior of the Great Officers of State in Scotland and is the Scottish official with responsibility for regulating heraldry in that country, issuing new grant ...

to take Stewart of Coll as his surname, and made Breachacha Castle his seat. The castle was restored to livable condition only in the 1960s, by

Nicholas MacLean-Bristol Nicholas is a male name, the Anglophone version of an ancient Greek name in use since antiquity, and cognate with the modern Greek , . It originally derived from a combination of two Greek words meaning 'victory' and 'people'. In turn, the name ...

and his wife Lavinia. It is a

Category A listed building Category, plural categories, may refer to: General uses *Classification, the general act of allocating things to classes/categories Philosophy * Category of being * ''Categories'' (Aristotle) * Category (Kant) * Categories (Peirce) *Category (V ...

. The Project Trust had the old castle as their original base until a custom built location on the west of the island was created in 1988. The newer Breachacha Castle (also known as Breachacha House), which is also a Category A listed building, was constructed in the mid-18th century northwest of the old castle ().

Samuel Johnson Samuel Johnson ( – 13 December 1784), often called Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, literary critic, sermonist, biographer, editor, and lexicographer. The ''Oxford ...

and

James Boswell James Boswell, 9th Laird of Auchinleck (; 29 October 1740 ( N.S.) – 19 May 1795), was a Scottish biographer, diarist, and lawyer, born in Edinburgh. He is best known for his biography of the English writer Samuel Johnson, '' Life of Samuel ...

stayed at the newer castle on their tour of the Hebrides. the newer castle is for sale as a listed property in need of great repair.

Images

Breachacha_Castle,_Coll_-_geograph.org.uk_-_808014.jpg, The 15th-century Breachacha Castle

References

{{coord, 56.5908, -6.6280, region:GB_type:landmark, display=title, name=Breachacha Castle Coll Castles in Argyll and Bute Category A listed buildings in Argyll and Bute