Clan Campbell - Innis Chonnell - Framed & Mounted Photo Print

Photographer Aly Wight captured Innis Chonnell from the shore of Loch Awe, the ruined castle on its wooded island framed by bare winter branches with a pink-tinted evening sky reflected in the still water below. The low light and the branches overhead give the image a sheltered, intimate quality that suits this place. From as early as the eleventh century, this island fortress was the seat of Mac Cailean Mor, the chief of the Campbells. Sir Colin Campbell was killed fighting the MacDougalls in 1296, but his son Neil allied with Robert the Bruce, fought at Bannockburn, and married the king's sister. That royal connection launched the Campbells from regional lords to one of the most powerful families in Scotland. They moved to Inveraray in the fifteenth century, but Innis Chonnell remained in use as a prison for high-value captives long after.

If you carry the Campbell name, this island in Loch Awe is where it all started.