Donal McNEILL 3d of Barra, 23d Chief

  General Notes:

http://www.clanmacfarlanegenealogy.info/genealogy/TNGWebsite/getperson.php?personID=I25632&tree=CC
Castle Bay, Barra, Outer Hebrides, Scotland
Kisimul Castle:
Kisimul Castle is the ancestral seat of the MacNeils and is one of the oldest castles of its type in Britain. Construction completed by the 23rd Chief, Donal.
Donald, the 23rd Chief of the Clan Neil, had further plans for Kisimul; a Great Tower or Keep. This was a major undertaking, for large quantities of stone had to be quarried on Barra, mortar had to be prepared, and heavy timbers had to be brought from the mainland, since there are very few trees on Barra. All of this material, then had to be painstakingly transported in small boats to the castle site.
Donald designed the tower to have five stories and an attic, with the first level serving as a storage room. Each floor was constructed of hand-hewn boards supported by heavy beams set in the walls. Since there were no fireplaces included in the plans, that meant that there could be no fires in the tower. The stone walls of the tower tapered from a thickness of 9 feet at the base to a little less than 6 feet at the top; the tower base was 32 by 35 feet and the internal dimensions about 17 by 20 feet. The Great Tower rose to an impressive 50 feet above the courtyard level, and a "penthouse" with thinner walls (about 1Ùa feet thick!) added another 10 feet.
The fourth floor was reserved for the chief's quarters. Large alcoves in the walls increased the usable area. The remaining floors served as eating and sleeping quarters for the castle garrison. A staircase from the chief's quarters led directly up to the top of the tower, where the penthouse stood within a high stone parapet. Altogether, the final product testified to the ingenuity and craftsmanship of the chief and his people.
Clan Neil tradition says that Chief Donald's ambitious project was completed in the year 1120. From that date, the castle stood virtually without change, occupied by an unbroken succession of chiefs until 1748.

Donal married.