The name Eilean Donan, or the Island of Donan was likely named after the Irish Saint, Bishop Donan, who came to Scotland circa 580 AD and likely set up a small community there.
The small tidal island where three sea lochs meet (Loch Duich, Loch Long and Loch Alsh), was first fortified to withstand the Vikings in the thirteenth century. The site grew into a large castle, covering the whole of the island but at the end of the fourteenth century, the castle was reduced to about a fifth of this size.
Eileen Donan’s part in the Jacobite risings of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries ultimately lead to its demise, and for nigh on the next two hundred years, the castle lay in ruins. In 1911, Lt. Colonel John Macrae-Gilstrap bought the island, rebuilding the castle using earlier plans and completing the building in 1932.
