Scottish Castles

Local information

Castle Sween, Argyll and Bute

Location: Grid reference - NR 712 788 (map and directions)

Located in Knapdale on the eastern shore of Loch Sween, Castle Sween dates back to the late 12th century, taking its name from Suibhne, the grandson of Hugh the Splendid O’Neill. The name Suibhne, anglicized, becomes Sween. The descendents of Suibhne became Clan MacSween in the 13th century and governed lands as far north as Loch Awe and as far south as Skipness Castle on Loch Fyne. The MacSweens held this power until the Wars of Scottish Independence, when Robert the Bruce displaced the MacSweens from their lands after becoming King of Scotland.

Castle Sween © David Wyatt

History of Castle Sween

In 1310 Edward II of England granted John MacSween their ancestral lands of Knapdale, though Castle Sween was already in the hands of Sir John Menteith. In 1376, the MacDonalds, Lords of the Isles, gained possession of the half of Knapdale which included Castle Sween, and during the 150 years that castle was on MacDonald soil, the owners were the MacNeills and then the MacMillans. Then, in 1490, James IV of Scotland granted Castle Sween to Colin Campbell, 1st Earl of Argyll, and it stayed in the Campbell clan until the 1640s, when Castle Sween was attacked and burnt by Alasdair MacColla and his Irish Confederate followers during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms.

The ruined castle sat untouched until the 20th century, when put under protection of the Historic Building and Monuments Directorate and Castle Sween is now in the care of Historic Scotland.

Though one tower collapsed in the 19th century, it has since been repaired by Historic Scotland.

Map and directions

Other castles in Argyll & Bute