Clan MacIain - A History

For some three hundred years, from the early fourteenth century, the lands of Ardnamurchan belonged to the Clan MacIain. They were a sept of the MacDonalds, the Lords of the Isles, and played a major role in the history of the west coast of Scotland. They were a strong and numerous people, yet by about 1633 they had effectively disappeared from Ardnamurchan, their lands taken from them and many of their women and children murdered in a cave near Ockle.

The rise and catastrophic fall of Clan MacIain is brilliantly told in a new book from Tim Steele, a resident of Kilchoan, who has drawn together the scant records of the MacIains and woven them into a highly readable history. "Clan MacIain - A History" is available from Kilchoan Community Centre, The Ferry Stores, and other outlets on West Ardnamurchan.

The story is centred on Mingary Castle, which the MacIains built and held. It is now, sadly, a ruin, yet is an appropriate memorial to the clan for, like them, it has not entirely disappeared - and Tim Steel's book explains where the successors of Ardnamurchan's MacIains are still to be found.

Use the new 'Search' facility on the right of The Diary to find earlier references to the MacIains and to Mingary Castle.