Armadale Castle - Caisteal Armadail

Armadale Castle - Caisteal Armadail  is the ruined former home of the MacDonalds in Armadale, Skye, Scotland (Scottish Gaelic: Armadal, An t-Eilean Sgitheanach, Alba).  This country house was first built in around 1790. In 1815 the renowned architect James Gillespie Graham was commissioned to extend the mansion house in the Scottish baronial style and this became Armadale Castle. The Castle was noted for for its luxurious  interiors, arcaded public halls and a great marble staircase. After a fire destroyed the Castle’s central section in 1855, David Bryce was commissioned to design a replacement. The Macdonald family moved to a smaller house in 1925 and the castle fell into ruin.  Caisteal Armadail, Na Gàrraidhean agus Taigh-tasgaidh nan Eilean (Armadale Castle, Gardens and Museum of the Isles) are open to the public.

ln 1972 the castle and grounds were purchased by the Clan Donald Lands Trust. A demolition programme had to be undertaken in 1981 saving as many remnants of the building as possible. The gardens around the castle have been maintained, and are now home to the Clan Donald Centre, which operates the Museum of the Isles. Caisteal Armadail, Na Gàrraidhean agus Taigh-tasgaidh nan Eilean (Armadale Castle, Gardens and Museum of the Isles) is open from late April until the end of October with access to the gardens set around the ruins of Armadale Castle. The museum can also be visited with information available on one of the most powerful of Scottish clans, the Clan Donald. The Centre is in the Sleat Peninsula in the south of Skye/An t-Eilean Sgitheanach close to Armadal.

Image: Armadale Castle by John Preston Neale (1780–1847) and engraved by John Rogers (circa 1808-circa 1888).

Link: Caisteal Armadail, Na Gàrraidhean agus Taigh-tasgaidh nan Eilean - Armadale Castle, Gardens and Museum of the Isles.