Castle Dounie, dun, Knapdale

Dun Castle Dounie stands on the summit of a rocky knoll at the north-eastern end of the Creag Mhór ridge. It overlooks the waters of the Jura Sound and Loch Crinan, about 1.5 kilometres south-west of Ardnoe Point near Kilmartin in Argyll and Bute. The site is also known locally as Creag Mhór. The knoll rises steeply from the surrounding land, giving the dun a commanding position over the surrounding landscape. The dun has an unusual harp-shaped ground plan and measures roughly 18 by 14 metres. Its drystone wall survives best on the north-western side, where it reaches up to 2.6 metres in height. The wall varies in thickness from 3.8 metres at its thickest point in the south-west to 1.6 metres elsewhere. A pronounced inward bulge on the west side marks the entrance, which lies on the northern side. The inner face of the wall is more eroded than the outer face, and a vertical straight joint runs from the base to the top of the surviving masonry on the south-western side. Inside, a strong inner facing was added along the east side, interrupted by two niches. The northern niche may once have supported a corbelled roof, as suggested by a large slab at its base. A small wall cupboard, or aumbry, is set into the south wall of this niche. The thickest part of the wall, in the south-eastern curve, encloses a large internal chamber. The entrance passage was originally 2.1 metres wide, unusually broad for a dun, but was narrowed to about one metre by a thick forewall added on the west side. Apart from a projecting rock in the north, the interior is otherwise plain.