Finlaggan (, ) is a historic site on Eilean Mòr in Loch Finlaggan, on the island of

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

, around 4 km west of the ferry terminal at

Port Askaig Port Askaig () is a port village on the east coast of the island of Islay, in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. The village lies on the Sound of Islay (Caol Ìle) across from Jura. Economy Port Askaig has a hotel, a petrol station and shop next to th ...

History

Finlaggan was the seat of the

Lords of the Isles Lord of the Isles or King of the Isles ( or ; ) is a title of nobility in the Baronage of Scotland with historical roots that go back beyond the Kingdom of Scotland. It began with Somerled in the 12th century and thereafter the title was ...

and of

Clan Donald Clan Donald, also known as Clan MacDonald or Clan McDonald ( ), is a Highland Scottish clan and one of the largest Scottish clans. Historically the chiefs of the Clan Donald held the title of Lord of the Isles until 1493 and two of those chiefs a ...

. Two of the three islands in 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 List of Scottish monarchs, 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 I ...

, who administered the territory via a

tenant-in-chief In medieval and early modern Europe, a tenant-in-chief (or vassal-in-chief) was 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 opposed to holding them ...

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 A gambeson (also known as, or similar to where historic or modern distinctions are made, the acton, aketon, padded jack, pourpoint, paltock, haustement, or arming doublet) is a padded defensive jacket, worn as armour separately, or combined wit ...

, 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 channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

's archaeological television programme ''

Time Team ''Time Team'' is a British television programme that originally aired on Channel 4, Channel 4 from 16 January 1994 to 7 September 2014. It returned in 2022 on online platforms YouTube and Patreon. Created by television produce ...

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

chapel A chapel (from , a diminutive of ''cappa'', meaning "little cape") is a Christianity, Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. First, smaller spaces inside a church that have their o ...

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 The University of St Andrews (, ; abbreviated as St And in post-nominals) is a public university in St Andrews, Scotland. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest of the four ancient universities of Scotland and, f ...

, working with the Finlaggan Trust and the

National Museum of Scotland The National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh, Scotland, is a museum of Scottish history and culture. It was formed in 2006 with the merger of the new Museum of Scotland, with collections relating to Scottish antiquities, culture and history, ...

, 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 (, ), also known as ''Eilean Mòr Castle'', is a ruined fortified house located on the isle of Eilean Mòr on Loch Finlaggan. It was once a residence and stronghold of

Lord of the Isles Lord of the Isles or King of the Isles ( or ; ) is a title of nobility in the Baronage of Scotland with historical roots that go back beyond the Kingdom of Scotland. It began with Somerled in the 12th century and thereafter the title was ...

and

. In the first half of the 7th century, a monastic community was established on Eilean Mòr, the largest of the three islands in the loch. This was either dedicated to or possibly founded by St Findlugan, an Irish monk and a contemporary of St Columba. St Findlugan is officially venerated as a saint in the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

and

Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, officially the Orthodox Catholic Church, and also called the Greek Orthodox Church or simply the Orthodox Church, is List of Christian denominations by number of members, one of the three major doctrinal and ...

.January 16 / January 3. https://www.holytrinityorthodox.com/htc/orthodox-calendar/ 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 Mòr 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 t ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

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

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 monuments in Argyll and Bute