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Duntulm Castle and Dinosaur Footprints are
on the far northwest coast of the Isle of Skye,
23 miles northwest of Portree, 9 miles north of
Uig, built
from the 1300s for Clan MacLeod.
The Skye Museum of Island Life
is 2 miles south of the Castle, also where you
can view the Grave of Flora MacDonald, woman
that helped save Prince Charlie. Postcode: IV51
9UF
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The image top is of Duntulm Castle from the
main road. The area up around the northwest
coast, along the north, and down the northeast
coast, is one of the most scenic areas of
Skye.
The Castle is unstable so you are not
supposed to enter, but the views from around
the Castle are amazing.
There are Large Dinosaur Footprints on the
Beach by the Castle, about 100 yards down the
main road from the car park, then you will see
a path down to the Beach, where you will see
large round footprints walking out into the
sea.
These footprints are visible when the tide
is out a bit, with them being full of water.
Think these were the largest Dinosaurs with
four legs, long neck and long tail.
Duntulm Castle was built in the 1300s for
Clan MacLeod, then taken over by Clan MacDonald
in the 1500s.
Duntulm Castle History
800s - Vikings took control of Skye and
other Scottish Islands, with them often carrying out brutal raids on the mainland.
1000s - Scots Kings began trying to force the Vikings out
of the Islands.
1220s - Clan MacLeod took control of
Dunvegan in the northwest of Skye after a MacLeod had married the daughter of a Viking, with the
earliest parts of Dunvegan
Castle built at that time.
1266 - the Treaty of Perth saw the Isle of Skye, the Hebrides, and Isle of Man transferred from Norway to Scotland, with Clan MacLeod then supporting Scottish Kings in battles with England.
1300s - the MacLeod's built Duntulm Castle,
37 miles north of their main Dunvegan Castle.
1400s - factions of Clan MacDonald moved to the Isle of Skye, controlling the
southeast area of Skye.
Clan MacLeod and Clan MacDonald had many
feuds over Castles and Land with Marriage used
once to try and unite the two Clans, but failed.
1520s - Clan MacDonald took control of
Duntulm Castle and that area, known as the
Kilmuir Estate, after a series of battles with the MacLeod's.
The Government forced peace between the two
Clans from the 1600s.
1730s - the MacDonald's abandoned Duntulm
Castle, said to be after a Maid accidentally
dropped one of their children from a window
onto the rocks below. The Maid was said to have
been killed, possibly by being set adrift on a
small boat into the North Atlantic. Her ghost
now haunts the Castle?
1732 - the MacDonald's of Duntulm begin
building Monkstadt House
6 miles south of Duntulm Castle. Some of the
stonework from the Castle was used to build the
House.
1739 - MacLeod's and Macdonald's of Skye
were accused of kidnapping about 100 of their own
people, men, women and children, in an attempt
to sell them as slaves in America. The vessel
carrying the people was wrecked off the coast
of Northern Ireland, all passengers
survived.
1745 - Clan MacLeod and Clan Donald of Skye
supported the Government in the 45 Jacobite
Rebellion. Many other Clan MacLeod and
MacDonald, from other areas, fought and died
with the Jacobite's at the Battle of
Culloden.
Many Clans on the Jacobite side in the 1745
rebellion had their homes destroyed, cattle
taken, and forced to move south to cities or
emigrate.
Clans supporting the Government, would
retain their Castles, Land, and Titles.
1746 - Bonnie Prince Charlie hid at
Monkstadt House before traveling to safety in
France. Charlie had dressed as an Irish Maid
using the name Betty Burke to help evade
capture.
1790s - the MacDonald's moved from Monkstadt
House to their new Armadale
Castle on the southeast side on Skye.
1855 - Major William Fraser bought Kilmuir
Estate from the MacDonald's. Fraser was
involved in the Highland Clearances, forcing
Crofters off their land so as to make way for
large scale sheep farming, also to reduce the
population, making uprisings less likely.
Crofters rebelled against Fraser with some
refusing to move or pay rent, leading to Fraser
calling in Police and Soldiers.
Although the Crofters won their dispute with
Fraser, they soon realized making a good living
from Crofting was was never going to happen.
By
the mid 1900s, most Crofters had left the area.
Their descendants can be found throughout the
UK, America, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia.
Family names in the area were MacDonald, MacLeod, MacKinnon, MacCaskill, McSween, and Nicolson.
1990 - a large part of Duntulm Castle
collapsed into the sea.
2015 - 70cm / 28in four leg plant-eating
Sauropod
footprints were found on the shore by Duntulm
Castle, an extremely rare find of these largest
ever animals.
Today- the Castle ruin is a popular place to
stop when driving around the scenic north coast
of Skye.
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