Kisimul Castle (10) - a photo on Flickriver

            However shaky the story may be, that the MacNeils descend from Niall of the Nine Hostages, they undoubtedly came from Ireland.  They were what you might call a second tier clan, by which I mean that although they held Barra directly from the crown for some time, they were essentially always beholden to either the Lords of the Isles, or later the Macleods and Macleans.

The strength and remoteness of their stronghold in Barra suited the raiding lifestyle that seems to have been regarded as characteristic of the MacNeil chiefs during the 16th century.  In 1596, the Dean of Limerick provided a memorable description of Ruairi, the then chief of the MacNeils, in his account of the Western Isles of Scotland, prepared for Elizabeth I’s administration:  

"MacNeil Barra (McNeale Barroh) who was reputed the best seafaring warrior in the Islands and is most remote to the north and by west, as I take it, is a follower to MacLean and has been accustomed to invade Ulla in Connaught in Ireland, being O’Mallye’s country and to prey in the sea coast of Connaught."

King James VI supported repeated, but ultimately unsuccessful, attempts by the so-called Fife Adventurers to displace the MacLeods from Lewis.  Ruairi MacNeill of Barra was one of the men to feel the pressure from increased government interest and activity in the region.  In 1605 he and a number of other Hebridean lords were commanded to hand over their castles and strongholds to royal officers, in order to further the king’s ‘interpryse of the conques of the Lewis’.  It is unlikely that the MacNeills of Barra complied with the request to surrender Kisimul to the Crown, for they undoubtedly played a major role in disrupting the plantation schemes in Lewis. 

In the following year, MacNeil was accused, along with Neil MacLeod and the Captain of Clanranald, of massing a ‘force and company of the barbarous and rebellious thevis and lymmairis of the Illis’ and attacking the king’s subjects in Lewis.  In response to the assault on the lowland settlers, the government issued letters of ‘fire and sword’ to Kenneth MacKenzie of Kintail who was enjoined to kill or capture the offenders.  MacKenzie does not appear to have been particularly successful; in 1608 MacNeil of Barra was still at large and the government seems to have reconciled itself to controlling his behaviour through his dependency on MacLean of Duart.

Taken on: August 27, 2022

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Kisimul Castle

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Camera: Hasselblad L1D-20c, f/3.5, 1/80 sec, 10.3mm, ISO 100 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Hasselblad L1D-20c
Aperture:	f/3.5
Exposure Time:	0.013 sec (1/80)
Focal Length:	10.3mm
ISO:	100
Exposure Bias:	-0.3 EV
Flash:	No Flash
Exposure Program:	Program AE
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Center-weighted average
White Balance:	Auto
Light Source:	Daylight
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	10.00.14.06
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