A roofless clifftop shell just south of Portpatrick, once a stronghold of the Adair family
Open accessScotland's right of responsible access applies
Substantial ruinsruined, but plenty survives above ground
A short walk south from Portpatrick along the cliffs brings you to Dunskey, the roofless shell of a tower house — a tall fortified home — on a headland above the sea. The Adair family held this stretch of the Galloway coast and built the castle you see in the early 1500s, probably on the site of an older stronghold. It was abandoned within a couple of centuries and has stood open to the weather ever since, its walls jagged against the sky and the ground dropping to the water on three sides. There is no roof and no floors left, so Dunskey is a place to look at from outside rather than explore. The path to it runs from Portpatrick, where the Southern Upland Way, Scotland’s coast-to-coast walking route, begins.
