Lords of the Isles: 15th Century Finlaggan

Discover the medieval residence of the Lords of the Isles at Finlaggan on Islay. This app reveals how the important Scottish archaeological site of Finlaggan may have looked in the fifteenth century.

During the Middle Ages Finlaggan was the heart of the Lordship of the Isles, which covered the Hebrides and parts of Ulster and mainland Scotland. Traditionally the Lordship was held by the Macdonald family. Following conflict in the fifteenth century the Scottish kings sought to curtail the Macdonalds’ influence, and in the 1490s James IV sent a military expedition to sack Finlaggan. Many of the buildings at Finlaggan were destroyed at this time, and the site sank into relative obscurity.

This app guides you through a new digital reconstruction of how the Lords of the Isles’ power base on Loch Finlaggan might have appeared in its glory days. The reconstruction was inspired by findings from excavations led by Dr David Caldwell and the Finlaggan Archaeological Project. The app was created by Smart History in collaboration with the Finlaggan Trust.