Invergarry Castle: The MacDonell Stronghold in the Scottish Highlands
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.3
- Popularity
- Low
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Primary era
- Early Modern
- Eras represented
- Early Modern, Modern
- Civilizations
- British, Kingdom of Scotland
- Site type
- Military
- Remains
- Castle
On this page15 sections
History
Invergarry Castle in the United Kingdom is a ruined Scottish Highland tower house built for the MacDonells of Glengarry, a powerful branch of Clan Donald. The present castle was completed after about 1670 and by 1691 on Creagan an Fhithich, or Raven’s Rock, overlooking Loch Oich in the Great Glen. Its position was strategically important during the clan wars, and the castle served as the principal seat of the chiefs of Glengarry.
Origins and the seventeenth century
The date of the first structure on Raven’s Rock is uncertain, and at least two earlier sites preceded the present castle. After raids by Clan Mackenzie in 1602, including the burning of Strome Castle, the MacDonells fortified the position. Clan tradition says that clansmen carried the building stones hand to hand from Ben Tee, linking the castle’s construction with the collective effort of the surrounding kin group.
In 1654, during the English Civil War, troops commanded by General Monck burned Invergarry Castle. Monck was an English commander serving the Parliamentarian side in the conflict. The castle was later repaired and held for James VII of Scotland from 1688 until its surrender to government forces under William and Mary in 1692.
Jacobite occupation and destruction
The Jacobites supported the restoration of the Stuart monarchy after James VII and II had been deposed. Their armed risings of 1715 and 1745–1746 brought Invergarry Castle back into military and political events. Jacobite forces held it during the 1715 uprising, although government troops took the castle in 1716. It was again occupied by the Jacobites during the 1745 rising.
Prince Charles Edward Stuart, known as Bonnie Prince Charlie, visited Invergarry shortly after the royal standard was raised at Glenfinnan. He is also said to have rested at the castle after his defeat at the Battle of Culloden in 1746. The MacDonells were closely involved in the Jacobite risings, and Lord MacDonnell served on the Prince’s Council.
After Culloden, government troops under the Duke of Cumberland sacked the castle and partially blew it up during the systematic suppression of the Highlands. The southeast wall was removed and the northwest extension of the L-shaped building was demolished. Invergarry Castle was never rebuilt, and the MacDonells later moved to Invergarry House, whose construction appears to have begun within a few years of the destruction. Richard Pococke described the new house during his tour of 1760.
Ownership and preservation
When Aeneas Ranaldson MacDonell of Glengarry, the son of Alexander Ranaldson MacDonell of Glengarry, came of age, he sold the Glengarry estates but retained Invergarry Castle, Invergarry House, the Well of Heads, and the ancient clan burial ground. These properties later passed through his daughter to the Erskine Cuninghames of Balgownie and Corrie.
Invergarry Castle, the Well of Heads, and the burial ground were transferred to the Invergarry Castle Preservation Trust in 1960. The trust is distinct from the National Trust for Scotland. Invergarry House also changed function in 1960, becoming the Glengarry Castle Hotel, which stands overlooking Loch Oich with the castle ruins in its grounds.
The remaining north staircase collapsed around 2000. Historic Scotland, now Historic Environment Scotland, directed a consolidation programme in 2007 that included the insertion of stabilising beams. The ruined castle is a scheduled monument, a site protected under United Kingdom law because of its national archaeological or historical importance.
Remains
The tower house
Plan and construction
The surviving castle occupies the rocky height of Creagan an Fhithich above Loch Oich. It was an L-plan tower house, a tall and compact Scottish residence combining domestic accommodation with limited defensive features. The building was constructed from rubble stone. Its main block measured approximately 17 by 10 metres, rose to five storeys, and joined a tower that reached six storeys.
Hall and internal access
The first-floor hall measured about 13 by 6 metres, with accommodation arranged on the floors above. A substantial scale-and-platt stair, formed with flights and landings, occupied the northwest part of the L-shaped plan. The open staircase lay within a chamber measuring approximately 5 by 7 metres. The main entrance was placed in the north wall of the northwest wing, opposite the staircase.
Defensive details
The unvaulted basement probably contained the kitchens. At ground-floor level, shot-holes and barred windows provided defensive protection. The entrance probably had a stout door fitted with an iron yett, a strong metal-barred gate traditionally used in Scottish fortified residences. Approximately six bartizans, which were projecting corner or wall-top turrets, formed part of the castle’s elevations. A cap-house also rose above the building, while the considerable thickness of some walls may reflect both earlier construction elements and the demands of a five-storey structure.
Courtyard and service area
Outer enclosure
Outside the tower house was a close, or courtyard and service yard, probably enclosed by a barmkin. A barmkin was a defensive or boundary wall surrounding a residence and its service buildings. The yard would have accommodated stables, workshops, a bakehouse, and a brewhouse, placing the practical operations of the household around the principal residence.
Interior finish
The surviving ruin gives only a partial impression of the castle’s interior. The hall may have contained painted ceilings, white-painted walls, tapestries or other wall hangings, a large chimney piece, and furniture. These features indicate the domestic and representative functions expected within the principal residence of the MacDonells of Glengarry.
Survey evidence and survival
The 1714 military drawing
A Board of Ordnance survey drawing prepared in 1714 identifies the building as the “Castle of Glangary.” The Board of Ordnance was the British government institution responsible for military equipment, fortifications, and related surveying. The drawing records the tall, narrow form of the castle, the northwest staircase, several bartizans, and the cap-house. Its plan and elevations can be correlated through their lettering, although the presentation joins more than one facade. The drawing has consequently provided the basis for a conjectural reconstruction of the castle’s early-eighteenth-century appearance.
Present condition
The surviving structure is ruinous, but its stout walls endured the eighteenth-century attack and later deterioration. The collapse of the north staircase around 2000 altered the remaining structure, while the consolidation work of 2007 inserted internal beams to stabilise it. The ruin preserves the main evidence for the castle’s tall L-plan form, its internal circulation, and its combination of domestic accommodation with limited defensive features.
