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Built in the early 1580s, this was another stronghold of the
MacDougall clan.
Known as the “Castle of Fountains” Gylen was strategically
placed to control and survey the southern approaches to Oban
by the narrow Sound of Kerrera.
The island's other claim to fame is that Alexander II died
in Horseshoe Bay in 1249 whilst attempting to recover the
Hebrides from King Haakon IV of Norway.
The castle was besieged and
burned by Covenanter General Leslie's in 1647 and was never
re-occupied thereafter. The attackers could not breach the
castle’s defences but there was no accessible water supply
and the castle eventually fell.
It was restored with a
£300,000 Historic Scotland grant and £200,000 from clan
members around the world. The Historic Scotland grant
enabled a specialist architectural team to restore elements
of the castle, including its oriel window and its vaulted
cellar."
As a result, the castle is open to the public freely and,
indeed, the Island of Kerrera is well worth exploring.
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