Dunaverty Castle (2)
From the west, it can be seen how the castle rock is isolated from the rest of the headland by a chasm.

The island in the distance is Sanda, said to be one of the places Robert the Bruce spent the winter of 1306-07 after his defeat at Methven and the capture and execution of many of his friends and family members. 

In the 16th and 17th centuries, the island was owned by the MacDonalds of Kintyre, who sided with Montrose during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms.  Mary, the mother of Montrose's able supporter Alasdair mac Colla, was a MacDonald of Sanda.  Alasdair's father, Coll Ciotach of Colonsay, a MacDonald of Dunyveg on Islay, was left to hold Dunyveg Castle when Alasdair mac Colla withdrew in the face of General David Leslie's covenanters to Antrim.  Along with the rest of the garrison, Coll Ciotach was executed when Dunveg was captured.

According to the census, Sanda had a population of 1 in 2001, a figure that had trebled by 2008.  Since then however, the island has been bought by a Swiss businessman and is now uninhabited.

(Sanda is currently (June 2024) for sale for GBP 2.5 million!)
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