Dunstaffnage Castle and Chapel

October 23, 2016

Our first impression of Dunstaffnage Castle was a huge imposing wall, surrounded by fall foliage. It looked nothing like the classic fairytale drawing of a castle with four turrets and a flag flying high. Instead, it looked much more like a rounded stone box built upon a huge mass of rock. It reminded us of the song “The Wise Man Built His House Upon a Rock,” as it’s still standing nearly a thousand years later. 

The castle was built in the 1200s, though many of its components, including the well, were built in the 1100s. Dunstaffnage was owned by the MacDougall clan, and not only served as a shelter during war, but also as a house for guests, a prison, a place for the royal family to stay, and many other things. The castle was also where Flora MacDonald, a woman who helped Bonnie Prince Charlie escape into hiding, was held for a time before being taken to London as a prisoner. What an interesting history Dunstaffnage Castle holds within its walls.

We walked up rocky steps to the arched doors of the castle and continued on through a long hallway, which brought us out to the courtyard. The courtyard was large, and served many purposes during the time that the castle was used. From the courtyard, there were several stairs to various levels and rooms that we were able to walk through. My favorite was the curtain wall, where you could see the fishtail shaped arrow slits, which were made for archers to be able to have a good view of the outside and shoot through the slits.

From the wall walk, we had a great view of the entire castle. It was quite amazing. We could also see the many pigeons that made the gatehouse roof their home. There was even a pigeon nesting inside one of the rooms of the gatehouse. It refused to leave its nest even when I came close. 

Down a path through beautiful fall trees was the Dunstaffnage Chapel. You can still see its windows with their intricate dog-toothed carvings even today, though it is around 800 years old. The chapel also contains a burial aisle that was built by the Campbells after the Protestant Reformation, as a memorial to their family members.

The area around the castle and chapel is very peaceful and beautiful, and I’m so thankful that we visited during the off season so it wasn’t packed full of tourists. It gave us the perfect opportunity to really take our time and look at everything and imagine what life would have been like for those who lived in the castle and went to the chapel. We spent a couple hours there, then visited the gift shop and got some delicious hot chocolate to take along with us on the drive to Inverness.