Dunnyveg Castle on the south Islay coast was the key stronghold of the MacDonald chiefs of Islay — the Clan Donald South who had been the dominant power in the southern Hebrides since the collapse of the Lordship of the Isles. Sir Randal MacDonnell of Antrim and the MacDonald of Islay contested control of the castle as the government sought to end MacDonald power in the isles. In 1614 a government expedition besieged Dunnyveg. The castle was taken and the MacDonald of Islay's power broken. Campbell intervention — particularly by Sir John Campbell of Calder — transferred the island to Campbell control, beginning the Campbellisation of Islay.
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