Kisimul Castle

Kisimul Castle, also Kiessimul or Kiessamul Castle or Caisteal Chiosmuil, is a castle on a small Scottish Hebrides island just off the coast of Barra in the Bay of Castlebay, the main town of the island. 1971 Kisimul Castle was inducted into the Scottish monument lists in category A. Moreover, it is protected as a Scheduled Monument.

History

Based on archaeological finds, the colonization of the small island can be demonstrated to the Stone and Bronze Ages. There is evidence that the history of Kisimul Castle originally dates back to the 11th or 12th century. Although artifacts have been discovered from this time on the island, but no structures of this period could be unambiguously assigned. It is assumed that Kisimul Castle dates from the early to mid 15th century. Architecturally it resembles a native of the 1430s Breachacha Castle on the island of Coll and could have been designed by the same architects. It was the ancestral seat of the Clan MacNeil of Barra, and was the control of the resident on Islay Lords of the Isles. Between the 15th and 17th centuries Kisimul Castle was extended several times and modernized. In the early 18th century, the fort was finally abandoned and burned out in 1795. The weddings of the herring fishery stones of the ruins were used as ship ballast and destroyed large parts of the plant. The ruin was finally rebuilt in the 20th century, but little attention to authenticity and large amounts were used in mortar and modern plaster. In 2000 Kisimul Castle was leased for 1,000 years to the preservation organization Historic Scotland. The annual rent amounts to a pound and a bottle of whiskey.