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I am Scottish by descent
this castle is my family castle.
Kisimul is a very small medieval castle located in the centre of Castlebay. It is one of the oldest castles in europe, and has never fallen to an enemy. One tale of a siege of the castle by the Norse tells the story of how the MacNeils fooled the besiegers by hanging up the hides of cattle that were to be used for the making of shoes. The hides were smeared with the blood of a dog, and the Norse were fooled into believing that the Clan had ample food, so they gave up their siege and went home.
Kisimul can only be reached by boat. And although it is surrounded by salt water, it has its own fresh water well. Abandoned in 1838 when the island was sold, the castle was left to the mercy of the elements. Partially destroyed by fire and vandals, a large portion of the castle came to rest on the bottom of the ocean as fishermen used stones from the castle as ballast for boats. This ballast was thrown overboard to make way for the catch, and over the years, the castle slowly disappeared.
Robert Lister MacNeil (Father of the present Chief of the Clan MacNeil, Ian Roderick MacNeil) was able to purchase the remains of the castle and most of the island of Barra in 1937, and he started work to restore the castle to the way it looked in the 1700's. When Robert MacNeil arrived on Barra, he found the remains of stone fishing jetties surrounding the bay. Using the stone from these jetties, he restored the castle to its current appearance.
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