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Kilchurn Castle stands on a small peninsula in Loch Awe about a mile west of Dalmally. The castle dates from the 15th century and was built by Colin Campbell, the First Lord of Glenorchy. In 1681 Sir John Campbell of Glenorchy was made the First Earl of Breadalbane and in the 1690s converted the castle into a barracks capable of housing up to 200 troops. The castle was used as a government barracks during the 1715 and 1745 Jacobite Risings but despite the Campbells' efforts, the government would not buy the castle from them. The Campbells left Kilchurn Castle for Taymouth Castle and their Perthshire estates in 1740. In 1760, lightning so badly damaged the castle that it was abandoned and left to ruin.

Originally, Kilchurn Castle stood on an island but in 1817 the level of the loch was lowered when the outflow into the Pass of Brander was cleared. The castle has been in the care of Historic Scotland since 1953.

This illustration was taken from 'Boswell's Journal of the Tour to the Hebrides with Samuel Johnson' (1852 edition)

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