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TITLE
Castle Spioradain
EXTERNAL ID
QZP40_3443_P045
PLACENAME
Castle Spioradain
DISTRICT
Inverness
OLD COUNTY/PARISH
INVERNESS: Inverness and Bona
PERIOD
1810s
SOURCE
Highland Libraries
ASSET ID
31764
KEYWORDS
castles
spirits
Bona Castle
Castle Spioradain
rivers
Caledonian Canal
ruins
fords
Castle Spioradain

Bona Castle was also known as Castle Spioradain. The castle ruins stand on a mound at a ford across the River Ness between the Caledonian Canal and Abban Water, approximately 200 yards east of Bona Lighthouse. The castle was a ruin before the Caledonian Canal was planned and the foundations were submerged when the water level of the loch was raised by weir at Dochfour during construction.

Spioradain comes from the Gaelic for 'spirits'. It is said that the castle was haunted by the ghosts of some Cameron hostages who were murdered there. It is also said that the trees growing in the ruins, rubbing together, made strange, ghostly noises which could account for the castle's name.

This illustration is one of a set bound with an anonymous manuscript entitled 'The Ancient and Honourable Family of Calder', from the Fraser-Mackintosh Collection at Inverness Library

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Castle Spioradain

INVERNESS: Inverness and Bona

1810s

castles; spirits; Bona Castle; Castle Spioradain; rivers; Caledonian Canal; ruins; fords

Highland Libraries

Fraser Mackintosh Collection (illustrations)

Bona Castle was also known as Castle Spioradain. The castle ruins stand on a mound at a ford across the River Ness between the Caledonian Canal and Abban Water, approximately 200 yards east of Bona Lighthouse. The castle was a ruin before the Caledonian Canal was planned and the foundations were submerged when the water level of the loch was raised by weir at Dochfour during construction.<br /> <br /> Spioradain comes from the Gaelic for 'spirits'. It is said that the castle was haunted by the ghosts of some Cameron hostages who were murdered there. It is also said that the trees growing in the ruins, rubbing together, made strange, ghostly noises which could account for the castle's name.<br /> <br /> This illustration is one of a set bound with an anonymous manuscript entitled 'The Ancient and Honourable Family of Calder', from the Fraser-Mackintosh Collection at Inverness Library