Dunyvaig Castle
The ruined sea fortress of the Lords of the Isles on a rocky point in Lagavulin Bay.
Dunyvaig Castle is the ruin of a great sea fortress on a rocky point in Lagavulin Bay, on the south coast of Islay about three miles east of Port Ellen, with Lagavulin Distillery along the shore beside it.
The MacDonald Lords of the Isles kept their galleys in the bay, and the castle was probably built to guard the fleet at anchor; it is first written of in the late 14th century.
What stands now is a jumble of walls fused to the rock: part of a 13th-century tower and courtyard, the walls of a 15th-century keep, and the inner and outer courts of the 16th century, with a great sea gate on the seaward side. It changed hands again and again between the MacDonalds, the Campbells and the Crown, and was besieged in 1614 and again in 1615. The Campbells left it for Islay House in 1677. Keep off the crumbling walls; the best views of the castle are from the rocky shore.
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Paths lead from the road by Lagavulin to the castle point.
The walls are crumbling: keep off them and look from the shore.
- Getting there
- CalMac’s ferry from Kennacraig sails to Port Askaig while Port Ellen is closed for upgrades (from 2 June 2026, expected to reopen in 2029); Port Askaig is about 20.8 miles from Port Ellen. Or fly from Glasgow to Islay Airport.
- Where
- Lagavulin Bay, 3 miles east of Port Ellen.
- Walls
- Crumbling; look from the shore.
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Add your reviewLagavulin Bay, east of Port Ellen, Isle of Islay.
Lagavulin DistilleryThe distillery of 1816 on Lagavulin Bay, near the ruins of Dunyvaig Castle, making deeply peated malt.Under a mile 1 min by road
Ardbeg DistilleryThe peated malt distillery on its own small bay east of Port Ellen, making whisky since 1815.Under a mile 2 min by road
Laphroaig DistilleryA distillery on Islay's south coast near Port Ellen, founded in 1815, with its own malting floors and peat kilns.2 miles 4 min by road
Port EllenA village of white and pastel cottages on Islay's south coast, founded in 1821, with three famous distilleries along the road east.3 miles 6 min by road
Isle of Islay (pronounced Eye-la)The most southerly of the Hebrides, known for its whisky, its beaches and Finlaggan, seat of the Lords of the Isles.3 miles 6 min by road
American MonumentA cliff-top tower at the Mull of Oa, raised in 1920 for the American servicemen lost off Islay in 1918.10 miles 21 min by road
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What we have written about it and more on Islay.
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