Coeffin Castle

Coeffin Castle
Argyllshire
Castle Coeffin ruins
Location
Grid reference:	NM853437
Location:	56°32’10"N, 5°29’36"W
History
Information

Castle Coeffin is a ruin on the island of Lismore, an island in Loch Linnhe, a great sea loch indenting the west coast of Argyllshire. The castle stands on a promontory on the north-west coast of the island, across Loch Linnhe from Glensanda.

History

Coeffin Castle was built on the site of a Viking fortress. The name Coeffin is thought to come from Caifen who was a Danish chieftain.

Coeffin Castle was built in the 13th century, probably by the MacDougalls of Lorne. Lismore was an important site within their lordship, being the location of St Moluag's Cathedral, seat of the Bishop of Argyll. The first written evidence of the castle occurs in 1469–70, when it was granted to Sir Colin Campbell of Glenorchy by Colin Campbell, 1st Earl of Argyll. It is unlikely to have been occupied in after the Middle Ages.

The ruins

The ruins comprise an oblong hall-house and an irregularly shaped bailey. The great hall is an irregular rectangle, measuring 67 feet by 34 feet. The walls are from 7 feet to 8 feet thick. The bailey was mostly built at a later date than the hall. An external stair probably linked the entrance, in the north-east wall, to the bailey. A second door gave access to the sea to the south-west.

Other features

A tidal fish trap, of unknown age, is located in the small bay to the south-east of the castle. To the north-east of the castle are the remains of a stone-walled fort. The Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland, published in 1892, lists a Castle Rachal in the same general location as Castle Coeffin. It is described as "a very ancient Scandinavian fortalice in Lismore and Appin parish, Argyllshire, on the NW side of Lismore island … now a dilapidated ivy-clad ruin."