Castle Tioram
Local highlightA ruined clan castle on a tidal island in Loch Moidart, cut off at high water and reached over sand at low tide
Open accessScotland's right of responsible access applies
Substantial ruinsruined, but plenty survives above ground
Castle Tioram sits on Eilean Tioram, a rocky tidal islet in Loch Moidart whose Gaelic name means the dry island — dry, that is, only when the tide is out, since the sea closes round it twice a day. The MacDonalds of Clanranald held it as their chief stronghold from the medieval centuries, a rough curtain wall (the outer wall) following the shape of the rock with a tower house inside. Its end is the memorable part: during the 1715 Jacobite rising the Clanranald chief is said to have had his own castle burned rather than let government forces hold it while his men were away fighting, and it has been an empty shell since. The ruin is unstable, so you can walk out to it over the tidal sands at low water but not go inside. Check the tide before you cross, and don’t get caught on the wrong side. It stands within Morar, Moidart and Ardnamurchan, one of the emptier and lovelier corners of the west Highland coast, with Ardtoe Beach nearby.
