The Castles of Scotland

Caisteal na Nighinn Ruaidhe

Argyll & Dunbartonshire: About 4.5 miles east of Kilmelford, on minor road east of A816 at Kilmelford, on small island at west end of Loch Avich.

Ruin or site NM 916137 OS: 55 PA35 1HJ

OPEN: Car parking and picnic area by the island.

Caisteal na Nighinn Ruaidhe, a ruinous old stronghold of the Campbells on a heavily wooded island in the beautiful and peaceful Loch Avich, near Kilmelford in Argyll.

Caisteal na Nighinn Ruaidhe, Loch Avich (© Martin Coventry)

On Innis Luina, a heavily wooded island in the picturesque loch, little survives of Caisteal na Nighinn Ruaidhe (‘castle of the red-haired girl’), a 13th-century castle of enclosure and hall house.

Caisteal na Nighinn Ruaidhe, Loch Avich (old postcard)

This was a property of the Campbells. The name is said to come from Bridget, heiress to the lands around Loch Avich, who married a Campbell around 1200.

Caisteal na Nighinn Ruaidhe: Loch Avich (© Martin Coventry)

An alternative tale is that, just after the building was first constructed, a red-haired servant at the castle was thrown to her death from the walls after discovering a plot to murder the mason. Her angry ghost then plagued the castle.
Beware of silence at most times, but occasionally beware of logging trucks.

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