Perhaps this page should be called the fall and fall of Duntulm Castle, because at the rate at which it is being allowed to crumble, there will be little left for future generations to see. The last major collapse was in January 1990.
The castle lies on the Western side of Trotternish north of Uig and not far from Skye's most northerly point. It stands on a Basalt promontory about 100 feet above the sea. It is most probable that the mediaeval castle was built on the site of an earlier Iron Age Dun, the remains of which are to be seen on many Skye headlands. It is believed that in earlier times the fort was known as "Dun Dhaibhidh" or David's Fort after a Norse chief who resided there.
The history of the castle thereafter is the usual mixture of murder, immuration and intrigue until it was finally abandoned in the 18th century. The probable reasons for its abandonment were its poor state of repair and unsuitability as accommodation for an eighteenth century clan chief.
As with many things on Skye, the castle has its legends.
One is that a nurse was cradling the chief's child at a window overlooking the sea when she lost her grip and the child fell to its death, after which the family could not bear to live in the castle. Another was that the ghosts of a previous owner, Donald Gorm Mor and his companions were making the then current tenants miserable by getting drunk in the castle wine cellar and creating a nuisance on a regular basis.
Whatever the truth of the matter, the castle has suffered greatly since its abandonment and (as with much Hebridean history) no-one seems interested in preserving it. Much of the castle was pilfered in bygone days as a source of ready quarried stone and the weather has done the rest.
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Copyright © Gareth Boote 2000