DUNTULM CASTLE

Situated on the northern coastline of Skye, Duntulm Castle was, in its hey day, during the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, the principal seat of the Chiefs of Clan Donald North, otherwise known as Clan Uisdean, from its progenitor Uisdean, or Hugh, a son of Alexander, third Lord of the Isles and Earl of Ross; and as the MacDonalds of Sleat, from their first settlement in that part of the island, their seat then being the Castle of Dunscaith.

They also became known as the MacDonalds of the Isles, hence the Gaelic designation of the Chief - MacDhombnaill nan Eilean, i.e. MacDonald of the Isles, the present representative being Sir lan Godfrey Macdonald of Sleat, Bart. The meaning of the name of the Castle, which is rendered in Gaelic as Dun Tuilm, has been a matter of debate but is generally given as the Dun or Fort of the green grassy headland, or eminence. The Dun is also said to have been known at an earlier period as Dun Dhaibbidh, i.e. David's Fort, from a powerful Viking chieftain who bore that name. The castle stands on a quadrangular site fifty feet above sea-level, with steep cliffs on three sides, and has a fosse or dry ditch in front of the landward side. Much of the stone and other materials were removed between 1732 and 1736 to be used in the building of Sir Alexander MacDonald's new house at Monkstadt, some five miles away. The principal structure was a substantial oblong block dating from the fifteenth century. A small seventeenth century tower has been added to the main block, with which it communicated, and projects within the courtyard.

Beyond the tower, in the north-west corner of the enclosure is a later house. The north-eastern angle of the enclosure is a projecting bastion, circular on the lower and angular in the upper part. The eastern angle of the main block is also an angular bastion. The building throughout is in a very bad condition and much of it has collapsed in recent years. The earliest mention of Duntulm is in 1549 when Sir Donald Monro, Dean of the Isles described it as "the castell Donntwyline perteining to Donald Gromesone," (i.e. Donald Gormeson, 6th of Sleat). The next specific mention of the castle is in the Description of the Isles, circa 1577-95, appended to Skene's 'Celtic Scotland', Vol. III, where the reference is: "Their was ane castell in Trouterness (Trotternish) callit Duncolem quhairof the wallis standis yet" which seems to suggest that it was then ruinous or uninhabited.

On 12th June 1614, Sir Rory Mor MacLeod of Dunvegan took sasine at Duntulm of the lands of Trotternish, Sleat and North Uist for which he had received from James Vl a Royal Charter in 1613. The Chief of Sleat, however, had received a lease forfive yearsfrom Whitsunday 1596 of the lands of Trotternish "presentlypossessed by him" which had expired in 1601 and following on the aforementioned charter to MacLeod, the Chief of Sleat obtained a new Crown Charter dated 21st July 1614. In a Bond executed at Edinburgh on 26th August 1616, Donald Gorm Mor named Duntulm Castle as his principal residence. The matter was finally settled amicably in 1618 when Sir Donald Gorm Og and Sir Rory MacLeod resigned the lands for which they each had charters, into the King's hands and a new Charter, dated 12th March 1618 was given to Sir Donald of the lands he possessed in Uist and Skye, excepting Trotternish for which it was provided that Sir Donald should pay a sum of money to Sir Rory in lieu of any claim he may have had to these lands.

From then until after the Jacobite Rising of 1715 (although for a time the chief again chose to reside in Sleat, at Armadale, until his house there was destroyed in 1690 on account of his involvement in the Jacobite Cause under Viscount Dundee) the grandeur and glory of the Castle of Duntulm and the hospitality of its chiefs were celebrated in Gaelic poetny and song throughout the Highlands. Having again risen on behalf of the Royal House of Stewart in 1715, the lands of the Chief of Sleat were forfeited and remained in the hands of the Commissioners of Forfeited Estates until 1723 when they were purchased on behalf of the wadsetters (mortgagees) by whom they were formally restored to the young Chief, Sir Alexander MacDonald, in 1727 when he received a Crown Charter by which the whole of his lands were erected into a barony to be called the Barony of MacDonald

A local press report in 1999 states that the Skye and Lochalsh area committee of The Highland Council, on 8th November, approved plans to transfer Duntulm Castle to a community trust which will oversee a £500,000 project to transform the ruined building into a safe visitor attraction. Last month the committee deferred a decision to allow members an opportunity to study an independent report by a local consultant on the hazardous condittion of the castle, which is owned by the council. After consultation, members agreed to follow the "most feasible" option which recommends the removal of debris from within the castle to rebuild the walls and make the whole building safer for visitors. The plan also involves the purchase of land for on-site car parking and improving the footpath to the site. The area manager, John MacDonald envisaged that the council might only have to find as little as ten per cent of the costs, £50,000, for the phased project. Most of the funding would be sourced from such outside bodies as Historic Scotland and the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Information taken from the Newsletter of the Clan Donald Society of Edinburgh, complied by Norman H.MacDonald.(Sources include: The West Highland Free Press; The Castellated and Domestic Architecture of Scotland by D. MacGibbon and T Ross; The Royal Commission on Ancient and Historical Monuments and Constructions in the Outer Hebrides, Skye and the Small Isles; Cast/es of Skye by J. Macintyre; The Mediaeval Castles of Skye and Lochalsh by R. Miket and D.L. Roberts).