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The island
A small tidal island sits where three sea lochs meet
Eilean Donan is a small tidal island at the confluence of three sea lochs, Loch Duich, Loch Long and Loch Alsh, in the western Highlands of Scotland. It is named after Donnán of Eigg, a Celtic saint.
The castle
A large curtain-wall castle was built there under Alexander II
In the earlier thirteenth century, during the reign of Alexander II, a large curtain-wall castle was built on the island. It stood on the boundary of the Lordship of the Isles and the Earldom of Ross, a strong position against Norse expeditions.
Shirt of mail
The Macraes guarded the Mackenzies and were called their shirt of mail
The island became a stronghold of the Mackenzies of Kintail. The Clan Macrae settled in Kintail, gained the trust of the Mackenzie lairds and began to act as their bodyguards.
1719
Royal Navy ships opened fire on the castle in 1719
On 10 May 1719 three frigates opened fire on the castle, where Spanish soldiers held 343 barrels of powder. The castle was demolished by the gunpowder exploding.
343barrels of powder in the castle, by Worcester's log
Rebuilt
The present castle is a reconstruction finished in 1932
Almost 200 years passed before reconstruction began. Lieutenant-Colonel John Macrae-Gilstrap rebuilt the castle from 1919, with plans by the Edinburgh architect George Mackie Watson. The present buildings are entirely 20th-century work.
Day 4, afternoon
It comes after Glenfinnan Viaduct.
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The words are a retelling of the Wikipedia article Eilean Donan, and are shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. They are checked against those articles, and a fact that is not in them is left out.