Burning of Invergarry Castle 1654

Who Fought

History & Significance

Invergarry Castle near Invergarry in the Scottish Highlands was the seat of the Chiefs of the Clan MacDonell of Glengarry, a powerful branch of the Clan Donald.

The castle's position overlooking Loch Oich on Creagan an Fhithich – the Raven's Rock – in the Great Glen, was a strategic one in the days of clan warfare. It is not certain when the first structure was erected on Creagan an Fhithich but there are at least two sites prior to the present castle.

After raids by the Clan Mackenzie in 1602 which included the burning of Strome Castle, the MacDonells of Glengarry fortified Creagan an Fhithich. The result was an imposing six storey L-plan tower house, although the exact form of the earlier castle is not known. According to clan tradition, the castle was built with stones passed hand to hand by a chain of clansmen from the mountain Ben Tee.

During the English Civil War, Oliver Cromwell's troops under General Monck burned the castle down in 1654. Repaired, it was held for King James VII of Scotland from 1688 until its surrender to the Government forces of William and Mary in 1692. It was then held by the Jacobites during the 1715 uprising, but taken for the government in 1716. During the 1745 uprising it was again held by Jacobites and visited twice by Bonnie Prince Charlie.

During the Jacobite risings of 1745 to 1746, Prince Charles Edward Stuart – "Bonnie Prince Charlie" – visited the Castle shortly after the raising of the Royal Standard at Glenfinnan and is said to have rested there after his defeat at the Battle of Culloden, in 1746. The MacDonells were closely involved throughout the Jacobite risings, Lord MacDonnell being a Member of the Prince's Council. In the aftermath of Culloden the castle was sacked and partially blown up by troops under the Duke of Cumberland as part of his systematic suppression of the Highlands.

However the stout walls refused to yield and have survived the centuries to serve as a reminder to their history. More prosaically, the Duke of Cumberland's men no doubt felt that they had 'slighted' the castle sufficiently by removing the SE wall and demolishing the NW "L" extension. The castle was never rebuilt, being abandoned by the MacDonells in favour of a new Invergarry House. This seems to have been commenced within a few years, Richard Pococke reporting this on his 1760 tour.

The Glengarry estates were sold by Aeneas Ranaldson MacDonell of Glengarry, the son of Alexander Ranaldson MacDonell of Glengarry (1771–1828), when he came of age, but he retained Invergarry Castle, Invergarry House, the "Well of Heads" and the ancient clan burial ground, which instead passed through Aeneas's daughter to the Erskine Cuninghames of Balgownie and Corrie.

The ground they fought on

The site of Burning of Invergarry Castle 1654 lies on Unnamed Igneous Intrusion, Neoproterozoic, bedrock that formed in the Neoproterozoic. The rock here is felsic-rock.

Frequently Asked Questions

Scheduled Monuments near Burning of Invergarry Castle 1654

Caledonian Canal,Cullochy Lock

Scheduled monument · ~2.7 mi

Cullochy Lock is a lock forming part of the Caledonian Canal in Inverness-shire, Scotland. The lock was constructed as one of a series of hydraulic structures engineered by Thomas Telford to connect the Atlantic Ocean with the North Sea, reducing the need for vessels to navigate around Cape Wrath…

Caledonian Canal,Laggan Locks

Scheduled monument · ~3.3 mi

Laggan Locks is a series of canal locks forming part of the Caledonian Canal in Inverness-shire. Completed in 1822, the locks were engineered to enable vessels to navigate the changing water levels between Loch Lochy and the River Spean, facilitating passage through the Great Glen from the Moray…

Caledonian Canal,Cullochy Lock to Kyltra Lock

Scheduled monument · ~3.7 mi

Caledonian Canal, Cullochy Lock to Kyltra Lock is a section of Scotland's most ambitious engineering achievement of the early nineteenth century. Constructed to link the Atlantic Ocean with the North Sea, this stretch of the canal connects two of its principal locks near Fort Augustus in Invernes…

Caledonian Canal,Kyltra Lock

Scheduled monument · ~4.5 mi

Kyltra Lock is a kyltra lock on the Caledonian Canal in Inverness-shire, Scotland. A kyltra lock is a specialised form of lock gate mechanism designed to manage water flow efficiently in canal systems, reflecting nineteenth-century innovations in hydraulic engineering. This lock forms part of the…

Caledonian Canal,Kyltra Lock to Fort Augustus

Scheduled monument · Iron Age · ~5.4 mi

Caledonian Canal, Kyltra Lock to Fort Augustus is a section of the early nineteenth-century canal that links the Great Glen lochs of the Scottish Highlands. This engineering achievement was designed to provide a sheltered sea route for vessels and to develop the local economy of the region. The c…

Caledonian Canal, Fort Augustus to Loch Ness

Scheduled monument · Iron Age · ~6.7 mi

Caledonian Canal, Fort Augustus to Loch Ness is a navigable waterway constructed through the Great Glen, linking the Atlantic Ocean to the North Sea across the Scottish Highlands. The canal extends from Fort Augustus southwestward to Loch Ness, forming part of the larger Caledonian Canal system t…

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