Ardtornish Castle ***

Region: Fort William, Ben Nevis & Lochaber

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Description:

Throughout the whole period of the Lordship of the Isles from the early 14^th to the late 15^th century this was the principal residence of the High Chiefs of Clan Donald.

Here too, the 4^th and last Lord of the Isles met the commissioners of Edward IV of England in 1461 to negotiate the well-known Treaty of Ardtornish-Westminster by which, in return for becoming loyal subjects of the King of England, John, his kinsman Donald Balloch of Dunyvaig and the Glens and the forfeited Earl of Douglas were each to have a third of the kingdom of Scotland with generous rewards until the conquest of the kingdom had been completed.
The revelation of this treaty to the government of Scotland in 1474 resulted in the loss of the Earldom of Ross the following year and John's final forfeiture as Lord of the Isles followed in 1493. Following John's forfeiture the lands of Ardtornish remained for a time in the hands of the Crown but were eventually given to the MacLeans of Duart who had already acquired large tracts of land in Morvern.

The castle was probably abandoned around the end of the 17^th century by which time Ardtornish and the other Morvern estates of the MacLeans, had been devoured by the Campbell Earls of Argyll.