Kilkerran Castle is a ruined castle, near Campbeltown

Campbeltown

Campbeltown is a town and former royal burgh in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It lies by Campbeltown Loch on the Kintyre peninsula. Originally known as Kinlochkilkerran , it was renamed in the 17th century as Campbell's Town after Archibald Campbell was granted the site in 1667...

, Kintyre

Kintyre

Kintyre is a peninsula in western Scotland, in the southwest of Argyll and Bute. The region stretches approximately 30 miles , from the Mull of Kintyre in the south, to East Loch Tarbert in the north...

, Argyll and Bute

Argyll and Bute

Argyll and Bute is both one of 32 unitary council areas; and a Lieutenancy area in Scotland. The administrative centre for the council area is located in Lochgilphead.Argyll and Bute covers the second largest administrative area of any Scottish council...

, Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

.

History

A keep

Keep

A keep is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word keep, but usually consider it to refer to large towers in castles that were fortified residences, used as a refuge of last resort should the rest of the...

 was built in 1490 by King James IV

James IV of Scotland

James IV was King of Scots from 11 June 1488 to his death. He is generally regarded as the most successful of the Stewart monarchs of Scotland, but his reign ended with the disastrous defeat at the Battle of Flodden Field, where he became the last monarch from not only Scotland, but also from all...

, for the housing of a garrison to subdue the MacDonalds.

Further fortification works were undertaken by King James V

James V of Scotland

James V was King of Scots from 9 September 1513 until his death, which followed the Scottish defeat at the Battle of Solway Moss...

, during an expedition to the Isles in 1536 against the Macdonalds and other turbulent clans.

As King James V

James V of Scotland

James V was King of Scots from 9 September 1513 until his death, which followed the Scottish defeat at the Battle of Solway Moss...

 sailed from Kilkerran (now Campbeltown), Alexander MacDonald, 5th of Dunnyveg

Alexander MacDonald, 5th of Dunnyveg

Alexander Carragh Mac Domhnaill, or MacDonald in Scotland, 5th of Dunnyveg , a Scoto-Irish chieftain, who was the son of John Cathanach MacDonald, 4th of Dunnyveg and Cecillia Savage, daughter of the Lord of the Ardes....

took Kilkerran Castle by force and hung the governor from its walls in view of King James V. As a result, Alexander MacDonald was summoned to Stirling and died there in 1538.