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Dunstaffnage Castle

Findspot (period Unassigned), Borer (flint)(period Unassigned)
Dunstaffnage Castle
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What is recorded here

Dunstaffnage Castle is a partially ruined castle of enceinte built c. 1220s by Duncan MacDougall of Lorn, controlled by Clan MacDougall until 1309, then the Scottish Crown until about 1470, and Clan Campbell since, on a sea-cliff above the entrance to Loch Etive. Its name joins Gaelic dun, a fort, with Norse staffa nes, a headland of staves, as if two tongues had argued the cliff into shape. The castle still stands beside a chapel ruin, watched by water and memory, while a hereditary Captain of Dunstaffnage keeps a thread of its old life intact.
Scotland's National Record of the Historic Environment records Dunstaffnage Castle as Findspot (period Unassigned), Borer (flint)(period Unassigned). The official map says its point is accurate as follows: NGR given to the nearest 100m. The record does not by itself mean that the public may enter the place.
Dunstaffnage Castle was built in the 13th century by the MacDougall clan, Lords of Lorn, and later held by the Campbell family. It is important as a strategic coastal stronghold and one of the oldest surviving castles in the region.

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Photo: Peter Amsden · CC BY-SA 2.0