Cairn na Burgh Beag is one of the

Treshnish Isles The Treshnish Isles are an archipelago of small islands and skerries, lying west of the Isle of Mull, in Scotland. They are part of the Inner Hebrides. Trips to the Treshnish Isles operate from Ulva Ferry, Tobermory, Ardnamurchan and Tiree. Ge ...

in the

Inner Hebrides The Inner Hebrides ( ; ) is an archipelago off the west coast of mainland Scotland, to the south east of the Outer Hebrides. Together these two island chains form the Hebrides, which experience a mild oceanic climate. The Inner Hebrides compri ...

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 ...

. Cairn na Burgh Beag is the smaller of the two "Carnburgs" (as they are nicknamed) at the northeastern end of the Treshnish Isles in the Inner Hebrides. (The other is Cairn na Burgh Mòr.) Cairnburgh Castle, which guards the entrance to Loch Tuath on the west coast of

Mull Mull may refer to: Places *Isle of Mull, a Scottish island in the Inner Hebrides ** Sound of Mull, between the Isle of Mull and the rest of Scotland * Mount Mull, Antarctica * Mull Hill, Isle of Man * Mull, Arkansas, a place along Arkansas Highwa ...

, is located on the larger of the pair. However, an unusual feature of the castle is that its defences straddle both islands: There is a small guard-house and a well on Cairn na Burgh Beag."Cairnburgh Castle"
Gazetteer for Scotland. Retrieved 30 May 2010. Both of these grassy islands are remnants of ancient lava flows, and both have a distinctive profile; they area flat-topped and trimmed with cliffs. In 1343 there was a reference to the castle of

Iselborgh Iselborgh or Isleborg is a fortification of uncertain location on the western seaboard of Scotland. Suggested sites for the castle are: Cairn na Burgh Beag, the smaller islet that forms part of Cairnburgh Castle; a former castle in Loch an Eilien ...

, which was granted by David II to

John of Islay, Lord of the Isles John of Islay (or John MacDonald) ( or ) (died 1386) was the lord of the Isles (1336–1386) and chief of Clan Donald. In 1336, he styled himself ''Dominus Insularum'' ('Lord of the Isles'), although this was not the first ever recorded instan ...

along with Cairn na Burgh Mòr and

Dùn Chonnuill Dùn Chonnuill is a small island in the Garvellachs in the Firth of Lorn, Scotland. Dùn Chonnuill lies north east of Garbh Eileach, the largest island of the archipelago to which it gives its anglicised name. There is a ruined castle, perhaps d ...

in the

Garvellachs The Garvellachs (Scottish Gaelic: ''Na Garbh Eileacha'') or Isles of the Sea form a small archipelago in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The islands include Garbh Eileach, Dùn Chonnuill and Eileach an Naoimh. Part of the Argyll and Bute counc ...

. Duncan and Brown concluded that Iselborg "certainly lay, with Cairnburgmore, in the Treshnish Group" and in 1980 the

RCAHMS The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS) was an executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government that was "sponsored" inanced and with oversightthrough Historic Scotland, an executive ...

also believed that "there appear to be good grounds for accepting the view that Isleborgh is an early name" for Cairn na Burgh Beag. There are however other possible locations for this castle.

Footnotes

References

* * Treshnish Isles Uninhabited islands of Argyll and Bute {{Argyll-geo-stub