Innes Chonnel Castle or Ardchonnel Castle is a ruined 13th-century castle on

Innis Chonnell Innischonnell (Scottish Gaelic: Innis Chonaill) is a small rocky island in Loch Awe, Scotland. It is part of Kilchrenan and Dalavich parish, in Argyll Argyll (; archaically Argyle; , ), sometimes called Argyllshire, is a Shires of Scotl ...

, an island on

Loch Awe Loch Awe (Scottish Gaelic: ''Loch Obha''; also sometimes anglicised as Lochawe, Lochaw, or Lochow) is a large body of freshwater in Argyll and Bute, Scottish Highlands. It has also given its name to a village on its banks, variously known as Lo ...

near

Dalavich Dalavich () is a village in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It lies on the western bank of Loch Awe and has a population of around 70. It is located from the main town and port of Oban, connected by the villages of Kilchrenan and Taynuilt. Hist ...

Argyll and Bute Argyll and Bute (; , ) is one of 32 unitary authority, unitary council areas of Scotland, council areas in Scotland and a lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area. The current lord-lieutenant for Argyll and Bute is Jane Margaret MacLeod ...

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 fortress was once a stronghold of

Clan Campbell Clan Campbell ( ) is a Scottish Highlands, Highland Scottish clan, historically one of the largest and most powerful of the Highland clans. The Clan Campbell lands are in Argyll and within their lands lies Ben Cruachan. The chief of the clan be ...

. The castle and the island are jointly a designated

scheduled monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage, visu ...

History

The castle that stands on the wooded island of Innis Chonnell has thick outer walls. It was the original stronghold of the

from possibly the eleventh century or earlier. It was the seat of

Cailean Mór Cailean Mór Caimbeul (also known as Sir Colin Campbell; died after 1296) is one of the earliest attested members of Clan Campbell and an important ancestor figure of the later medieval Earls of Argyll. Cailean was the son of Gilleasbaig, a kni ...

(Sir Colin Campbell) who was killed fighting the

Clan MacDougall Clan MacDougall is a Highland Scottish clan, historically based in and around Argyll. The Lord Lyon King of Arms, the Scottish official with responsibility for regulating heraldry in Scotland, issuing new grants of coats of arms, and serving as ...

at the

Battle of Red Ford The Battle of Red Ford or Battle of the String of Lorne took place in 1294 or else after September 1296 between Clan Campbell and Clan MacDougall in Lorne, Scotland.Maughan 1897, p140 The battle was fought over disputed lands. It ended in defe ...

in 1296. Later, John MacDougall held the castle against

Robert the Bruce Robert I (11 July 1274 – 7 June 1329), popularly known as Robert the Bruce (), was King of Scots from 1306 until his death in 1329. Robert led Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland during the First War of Scottish Independence against Kingdom of Eng ...

in 1308. Sir Colin Campbell's son, Sir Neil Campbell, married Bruce's sister, Mary, and Sir Neil fought for the Bruce at the

Battle of Bannockburn The Battle of Bannockburn ( or ) was fought on 23–24 June 1314, between the army of Robert the Bruce, King of Scots, and the army of King Edward II of England, during the First War of Scottish Independence. It was a decisive victory for Ro ...

in 1314. Innis Chonnel Castle was abandoned by the Campbells as their residence in the fifteenth century, but it was still used as a prison. The young

Domhnall Dubh Domhnall Dubh ("Black Donald", died 1545) was a Scottish nobleman. He was the son of Aonghas Óg, chief of Clan Donald (Clann Domhnaill), and claimant to the Lordship of the Isles, which had been held by his grandfather John of Islay, Earl of R ...

("Black Donald"), son of

Aonghas Óg Aonghas Óg (died 1490) was a Scottish nobleman who was the last independent Lord of the Isles. Aonghas became a rebel against both his father and the Scottish crown, in a civil clan war which would see the end of the independent Lordship of the ...

(Angus) and heir to the

Lordship 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 h ...

, was imprisoned in the castle after the

Battle of Bloody Bay The Battle of Bloody Bay, or Blàr Bàgh na Fala in Scottish Gaelic, was a naval battle fought near Tobermory, Scotland. It was fought on the coast of Mull north of Tobermory, between John MacDonald of Islay, the Lord of the Isles and chie ...

, which took place off the coast of the

Isle of Mull The Isle of Mull or simply Mull ( ) is the second-largest island of the Inner Hebrides (after Skye) and lies off the west coast of Scotland in the Council areas of Scotland, council area of Argyll and Bute. Covering , Mull is the fourth-lar ...

in 1484. He escaped but after invading

Badenoch Badenoch (; ) is a district of the Scottish Highlands centred on the upper reaches of the River Spey, above Strathspey. The name Badenoch means the drowned land, with most of the population living close to the River Spey or its tributaries ...

in 1503, he was recaptured and imprisoned in

Edinburgh Castle Edinburgh Castle is a historic castle in Edinburgh, Scotland. It stands on Castle Rock (Edinburgh), Castle Rock, which has been occupied by humans since at least the Iron Age. There has been a royal castle on the rock since the reign of Malcol ...

for forty years. Innis Chonnell Castle was in ruins by the nineteenth century.

References

External links

Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland listing - Innes Chonnel Castle
,

CANMORE Canmore may refer to: *Canmore (database), a Scottish national online database of ancient monuments; *Canmore, Alberta, a town in Canada; *the House of Dunkeld, a royal house that ruled Scotland in the 11th, 12th and 13th centuries, including **Malc ...

{{coord, 56.2568, N, 5.2675, W, region:GB, display=title Ruined castles in Argyll and Bute Scheduled monuments in Argyll and Bute Lowland castles