Aros Castle

Aros Castle is a ruined hall house and courtyard overlooking the mouth of the Aros River where it flows into the Sound of Mull, an important waterway leading towards Oban from the Isles. It occupies a flat-topped rocky knoll which is separated from the main landmass of the island by a wide ditch, and turf-covered footings of a number of old houses lie on the island side as well as two buildings within the courtyard. The rectangular hall overlooks the causeway crossing the ditch, and is provided with a number of openings on the south-east (courtyard facing) side with two others facing north-east across the Sound. A squarish extension on the northern corner is of undetermined use. The island-facing (west) side of the courtyard has a straight wall with a central gateway, returning with a right angle at the southern corner, after which the wall is irregular in shape, following the summit area.

The hall house is dated to the 13th century, making it likely that one of the MacDougall family built it, but during the Wars of Independence the MacDougalls were overthrown and the pro-Bruce Macdonalds were granted much of the old MacDougall lands. Dounarwyse, as it was known, is known to have been in the possession of the Lords of the Isles in the latter 14th century. The history associated with Aros is sketchy, but it was clearly retained by the Lords of the Isles as a base throughout their time as Lords of the Isles. Despite of – or perhaps because of – the marriage of John of Islay to the Princess Margaret Stewart (daughter of Robert II), the 15th century saw ongoing conflict between the Macdonalds and kings of Scots, particularly with regard to their claim to the earldom of Ross. This resulted in open warfare, and the imprisonment of Alexander of Islay. His son John was to be the last Lord of the Isles, and when John’s heir Angus was murdered in 1490, the day of the Macdonalds was over. Mull was then granted to the Macleans, who based themselves at Duart Castle, until they were overthrown in the 17th century by the Campbells of Argyll. Aros Castle was described as “ruinous, old, useless and never of any strength” in 1688, and was used briefly as a garrison point by the Campbells in 1690. It is unlikely that it was used afterwards, the site becoming a quarry for its stone.

HES Canmore database entry