- Castle Sween
Castle Sween is located on the eastern shore of
Loch Sween , inKnapdale ,http://www.historic-scotland.gov.uk/properties_sites_detail.htm?propertyID=PL_061 Retrieved onJune 19 ,2007 ] on the west coast ofArgyll ,Scotland . Castle Sween is thought to be one of the earliest stone castles built in Scotland, having been built sometime in the late twelfth century. The castle's towers were later additions to wooden structures which have now since vanished.History
Location map
Scotland
label=Castle Sween | marksize=9
mark=Blue_pog.svg
lat_dir=N | lat_deg=55 | lat_min=56
lat_sec=52
lon_dir=W | lon_deg=5 | lon_min=39
lon_sec=51
position=right
width=150
float=right
caption=Location of Castle Sween.Castle Sween takes its name from Suibhne, (Anglicized as "Sween"), who is thought to have built the castle. Suibhne was thought to have been a grandson ofHugh the Splendid O'Neill who died in 1047.http://www.knapdalepeople.com/SweenStory.html Retrieved onJune 19 ,2007 ]In the thirteenth century the Clan MacSween, or descendants Suibhne, governed lands extending as far north as
Loch Awe and as far south asSkipness Castle onLoch Fyne . In the later half of the thirteenth century the MacSween lands of Knapdale passed into the hands of the Stewart Earls of Menteith.By the time of the
Wars of Scottish Independence the MacSweens took the wrong side, and whenRobert the Bruce becameKing of Scotland he displaced the MacSweens from their lands. After Robert the Bruce had defeatedMacDougall Lord of Lorne in 1308, he then laid siege toAlasdair Og MacDonald in Castle Sween.http://www.ccsna.org/jsep60b.htm Retrieved onJune 19 ,2007 ] Alastair gave himself up and was disinherited by Robert Bruce who then grantedIslay to Alasdair's younger brother, Angus Og. The King granted Castle Sween to a loyal supporter of his, Angus of Islay.In 1310,
Edward II of England granted John MacSween and his brothers their family's ancestral lands of Knapdale, (though by then Castle Sween was held by Sir John Menteith).http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/adsdata/PSAS_2002/pdf/vol_126/126_517_557.pdf Retrieved onJuly 04 ,2007 ] It is possible that this could be the "tryst of a fleet against Castle Sween", recorded in theBook of the Dean of Lismore , which tells of the attack of John Mac Sween on Castle Sween.In 1323, after the death of Sir John Menteith, the Lordship of Arran and Knapdale passed to his son and grandson. In 1376 half of Knapdale, which included Castle Sween, passed into possession of the MacDonald
Lords of the Isles , by grant ofRobert II of Scotland to his son-in-lawJohn I, Lord of the Isles .During the MacDonald's century and a half of holding the castle, the castellans were first MacNeills and later MacMillans.
In 1490 Castle Sween was granted to
Colin Campbell, 1st Earl of Argyll , byJames IV of Scotland .http://www.ccsna.org/castles/sween.html Retrieved onJune 19 ,2007 ]In the 1640s, during the
Wars of the Three Kingdoms , Castle Sween was attacked and burnt byAlasdair MacColla and his Irish Confederate followers.In 1933 the castle was put in the care of the
Historic Building and Monuments Directorate (HBMD).http://www.darkisle.com/s/sween/sween.html Retrieved onJune 19 ,2007 ] Currently Castle Sween is under the protection ofHistoric Scotland .Notes
External links
*historic-scotland-link|061
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